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A    MEMOIR 


BY   THE    AUTHOR    OF 

"CHARLES   LOWDER" 

WITH   A    PREFACE   BY 

THE  REV.  CANON  CARTER 


"Who  best 
Bear  His  mild  yoke,  they  serve  Him  best " 


LONDON 

KEGAN  PAUL,  TRENCH  &  CO.,  r,  PATERNOSTER  SQUARE 

1883 


PREFACE. 


The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  so  long  withdrawn 
from  any  active  share  in  the  Church's  work,  and 
forced,  through  continual  sickness  and  suffering,  to 
live  for  so  many  years  in  comparative  retirement, 
often  out  of  England,  that  it  was  at  first  a  question 
whether  there  was  a  sufficient  justification  for 
writing  his  life,  or  sufficient  material  for  its  com- 
position. The  circle  of  his  friends  had  necessarily 
become  much  narrowed,  and  to  younger  men  the 
position  he  occupied  in  the  progress  of  the  Church 
movement  was  mostly  unknown  or  forgotten. 

But  the  work  which  James  Skinner  did  before 
sickness  incapacitated  him,  was  of  an  important  kind, 
and  during  his  later  years,  confined  almost  to  his 
study,  he  was  yet  never  unoccupied,  except  when 
quite  unequal  to  any  exertion.     Amidst  his  books — ■ 


viii  PREFACE. 

he  had  a  well-stocked  and  valuable  library — he  was 
continually  at  work,  either  preparing  private  help 
for  those  who  looked  to  him  for  guidance  in  their 
spiritual  difficulties,  or  materials  of  a  theological  or 
devotional  kind,  of  more  general  usefulness,  some  of 
which  have  been  published. 

It  was  felt  therefore  that  there  was  cause  for 
requesting  an  intimate  friend  to  undertake  some 
personal  record,  that  the  lessons  to  be  derived  from 
his  example  and  the  fruits  of  his  learning  and 
mental  powers,  always  bent  on  the  furtherance  of 
Divine  truth  and  spiritual  edification,  might  not  be 
lost. 

At  first  it  was  intended  only  to  publish  his 
letters  and  other  spiritual  papers,  but  afterwards  it 
wTas  thought  best,  and  more  interesting,  to  introduce 
them  in  a  narrative. 

I  desire  to  offer  very  grateful  thanks  to  those 
who,  at  my  request,  kindly  entrusted  to  me  the 
letters  and  certain  other  writings  of  my  dear  friend 
which  they  had  treasured.  These  have  been  freely 
used  according  to  their  permission,  where  it  was 
thought  they  might  be  useful  to  others.      It  should, 


PREFACE.  IX 

however,  be  clearly  stated  that  the  author  herself  is 
not  responsible  for  the  selections  made.  They  have 
been  carefully  considered  at  her  express  and  anxious 
desire,  and  a  special  debt  is  due  to  the  Rev.  W.  H . 
Cleaver  for  his  patient  labour  in  this  matter,  as  well 
as  for  his  general  assistance  in  the  preparation  of 
this  volume. 

There  has  been  another  feeling  actuating  the 
resolve  to  undertake  this  work.  It  was  that  the 
lesson  of  patient  endurance  under  continual  suffer- 
ing and  inaction,  on  the  part  of  one  who  had  been 
endued  with  specially  ardent  and  energetic  activities 
of  mind  and  body  alike,  might  not  be  without  some 
fruit  in  encouraging  and  solacing  others  called  to  a 
similar  trial. 

His  nature  was  fitted  and  inclined  to  enter  keenly 
into  the  stirring  interests  of  any  great  cause  or  oi 
lofty  duty,  and  equally  so  to  enjoy  with  intense 
brightness  the  innocent  delights  of  the  passing  hour. 
His  whole  spirit  within  him  would  stir  with  enthu- 
siasm, or  indignation,  or  eager  zeal,  as  the  cause 
might  dictate,  and  no  one  had  a  more  joyous  utter- 
ance or  a  heartier  laugh,  as  his  quick  imagination 


x  PREFACE. 

kindled   in   loving  intercourse  with  others ;    for  he 

had  a  special  gift  of  genial  fellowship,  and  more  than 

ordinary  conversational  power. 

It  was  felt,  to  use  the  author's  words  (in  writing 

to  me  to  express  her  own  thoughts  as  to  her  work), 

that  James  Skinners  life  had  been  "a  victory  mainly 

through   suffering,"  as   Charles   Lowder's  had  been 

"  a    victory  through  self-denying  action,"    and  that 

this  memoir,  which  her  affectionate,  reverent  regard 

for  my  dear  friend  led  her  to  undertake,  would  be  a 

true  practical  comment  on  the  words  she  has  chosen 

for  the  motto  of  her  book, 

"  Who  best 
Bear  His  mild  yoke,  they  serve  Him  best." 

T.  T.  CARTER. 

St.  John's  Lodge,  Clewer, 
September  8,  1883. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
1S18-1S39. 

PACK 

Introduction — Birth — Parentage — Early  Days — Durham  University       ...         1 

CHAPTER  II. 

1 839- 1 846. 

Betrothal — King  William's  College — Ordained  Deacon — Burton  Agnes 
— Ordained  Priest — Windsor — Letters  from  Dr.  Pusey — Southsea 
Military  Prison — Letter  to  Mr.  George  Skinner — St.  Mary's,  Read- 
ing— Letter  from  Bishop  Wilberforce — Corfu  ...         ...         ..         15 

CHAPTER  III. 

1846-184S. 

Letters  from  Corfu — Visit  to  Ithaca — WTork  among  the  soldiers — Letters 

from  Rev.  G.  R.  Gleig — Funeral  of  the  Archbishop  of  Corfu  ...       35 

CHAPTER  IV. 

1848-1851. 

Visit  to  England — Journal— Marriage — Return" [to  Corfu — Letters  from 
Corfu— Birth  of  a  daughter— Resignation  of  Military  Chaplaincy— 
St.  Barnabas',  Pimlico    ...         ...         ...         ...         •••         •••         •••       51 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

1851,  1852. 

PAGE 

Parish  of  St.  Paul's,  Knightsbridge— The  Rev.  W.  J.  E.  Bennett- 
Foundation  of  St.  Barnabas',  Pimlico—  "Papal  Aggression"— Dis- 
missal of  Mr.  Bennett — Troubles  at  St.  Barnabas' — Correspondence 
with  Rev.  and  Hon.  R.  Liddell — Letters  to  Charles  Lowder — 
Difficulties  with  Bishop  Blomfield — Letters  to  Rev.  and  Hon.  R. 
Liddell— Letter  from  Rev.  W.  J.  E.  Bennett — Domestic  sorrows   ...       60 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Letters  on  spiritual  subjects    ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         •■-          •••       9$ 

CHAPTER  VII. 

1853- 
Severe  illness — Winter  at  Clifton — Letters  of  spiritual  counsel 122 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

1S53-1855. 

Failure  of  health — Letter  from  Mr.  Liddell — Departure  from  England — 
Storm  in  Mediterranean — Cairo — Journey  through  the  Desert — 
Death  of  Mr.  Ewbank — Jaffa — Jerusalem — Journey  to  Alexandria  145 

CHAPTER  IX. 

1855-1S57. 
Return  home — Archbishop  of  Malabar — Letters  to  Bishop  Blomfield — 
Dr.  Lushington's  judgment — Serious  illness — Letters  from  Rev.  and 
Hon.  R.  Liddell — Resignation  of  curacy — Departure  from  St.  Bar- 
nabas'— Mentone — Lenten  Rules — Letters      ...         ...         ...         ...      165 

CHAPTER  X. 

1858-1S61. 
Return  to  England — Letters — Ilillingdon — Foundation  of  English  Church 
Union — Letter  from  Hon.  Colin  Lindsay — Tour  abroad — Sunday  at 
Zurich — Munich — Breslau  ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...      1S7 


TAGE 


CONTENTS.  XI 11 

CHAPTER  XI. 

i 861-1865. 

Almshouses  at  Newland — Acceptance  of  parish  and  Wardenship — First 
days  at  Malvern— Increased  services — First  Church  Congress— Death 
of  Mrs.  Raymond — The  Warden's  Lodge — Consecration  of  St. 
Leonard's  Church — Dedication  of  almshouses — Life  at  Newland    ...     202 

CHAPTER  XII. 

1863-1S66. 

Work  at  Newland — Mid-Lent  retreat — Notes  on  humility — Considera- 
tions as  to  Roman  claims— Letters  of  spiritual  counsel  223 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

1867,  1868. 

Death  of  George  Ure  Skinner — Agnes  Raymond  Skinner— Childhood — 

Illness— Death      251 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

1868-1870. 

Letter  from  Bishop  Wilberforce — Lent  in  London — Daily  Celebration 
at  Newland — Use  of  vestments — Frescoes — "  Synopsis  of  Moral 
Theology" 273 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Introduction  to  the  "  Synopsis  of  Moral  Theology  "  ...         285 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

1870-1872. 

Increased  work — Ammergau  and  North  Italy — Letter  from  Brighton — 

Serious  illness — Letters  of  counsel— Fasting  Communion     296 


TAGK 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

1873-1877. 

Failure  of  health— Spring  abroad— San  Remo— Val  Ansasca— Monte 
Generoso — Letter  from  Pontresina — Return  to  England — Letter 
from  Father  Benson — Letter  to  Canon  Carter — Winter  abroad — 
Return  home — Bristol — Resignation  of  Newland  —  Letters  from 
Dr.  Pusey — Departure  from  Newland  ...          ...         ...         ...         ...     314 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

1S77-1S79. 

Winter  on  the  Riviera — Letters  from  Dr.  Pusey — Return  to  England — 
The  Hermitage — Religious  communities — Winter  at  Cannes — Letter 
to  a  young  priest — Letter  from  Dr.  Pusey — Cimiez — Visit  to  Dr. 
Doellinger — Summer  at  the  Hermitage — Visit  to  Newland — Letter 
from  Dr.  Pusey     ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...     337 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

1879-1881. 

Winter  at  Bath — Letter  from  Dr.  Pusey — Whitsuntide  at  Ascot — Visit  to 
Newland — Letters  from  Dr.  Pusey — Last  Celebration — Letters  from 
Bath — Letters  from  Dr.  Pusey — Last  summer  at  Ascot — Last  visit 
to  Newland — Letters  on  St.  Augustine — Resignation  of  Chaplaincy 
— Letters  from  Dr.  Pusey — Departure  from  Ascot     356 

CHAPTER  XX. 

1SS1. 
Letters  from  Bath— Last  illness — Death — Burial  at  Newland      376 

Appendix 3S7 


JAMES    SKINNER. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BIRTH   AND   EARLY  YEARS. 
1818-1839. 

"  Chacun  des   Saints   est  un   mot    d'un   discours   infini,   une   note  d'une 
symphonie  immense. " 

There  is  a  remarkable  account  in  Cardinal  Newman's 
"Apologia"  of  his  ardent  desire,  in  the  spring  of  1833,  to 
return  to  England,  after  an  absence  of  six  months  in  Italy, 
and  his  conviction  that  he  had  a  work  to  do  in  this  country. 
After  various  hindrances  from  illness  and  other  causes,  he 
arrived,  he  tells  us,  on  July  9th,  the  Tuesday  before  Mr. 
Keble  preached  the  Assize  Sermon  in  the  University 
pulpit  at  Oxford,  on  that  Sunday,  July  14th,  which  Dr. 
Newman  says  he  ever  considered  and  kept  as  the  start  of 
the  religious  movement  of  1833. 

When  I  got  home  from   abroad  (he  continues),  I  found  that 
already  a  movement  had  commenced  in  opposition  to  the  specific 
danger  which  at  that   time  was  threatening  the  religion   of  the 
*  t  B 


2  LETTERS  FROM  ROBERT  HURRELL  FROUDE. 

nation  and  its  Church.  Several  zealous  and  able  men  had  united 
their  counsels,  and  were  in  correspondence  with  each  other.  The 
principal  of  these  were  Mr.  Keble,  Hurrell  Froude,  who  had 
reached  home  long  before  me,  Mr.  William  Palmer  of  Dublin 
and  Worcester  College,  Mr.  Arthur  Perceval,  and  Mr.  Hugh  Rose. 

Amongst  these  remarkable  men,  perhaps  Mr.  Hurrell 
Froude  possessed  the  most  original  genius  ;  certainly  he 
was  the  one  who  felt  himself  the  least  fettered  in  his  course 
of  thought  and  action.  Now  that  half  a  century  has  passed 
away,  it  is  not  unfitting  that  the  following  letter,  written 
by  him  to  Mr.  Perceval,  should  be  made  public.  It  was 
written  exactly  a  month  after  Mr.  Keble  preached  the 
Oxford  Assize  Sermon,  and  is  one  of  so  much  historical 
value  that  to  withhold  it  would  be  a  loss.* 

My  dear  Perceval, 

The  impression  left  on  my  mind  after  my  visit  to  Rose 
was  on  the  whole  a  gloomy  one,  i.e.  that  in  the  present  state  of 
the  country  we  have  very  poor  materials  to  work  upon  among  the 
clergy  and  laity  ;  and  that  the  only  thing  to  be  done  is  to  direct 
all  our  efforts  to  the  dissemination  of  better  principles. 

Since  I  have  been  back  at  Oxford,  Keble  has  been  here,  and 
he  and  Palmer  and  Newman  have  come  to  an  agreement,  that  the 
points  which  ought  to  be  put  forward  by  us  are  the  following  : — 

I.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Apostolical  Succession  as  a  rule  of 
practice. 

i.e.  (i)  That  the  participation  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ  is  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  Christian 
life  and  hope  in  each  individual. 
(2)  That  it  is  conveyed  to  individual  Christians  only  by 
the  Hands  of  the  Successors  of  the  Apostles  and 
their  delegates. 

*  It  is  given  here  by  the  kind  permission  of  Miss  Perceval,  eldest  daughter 
of  the  late  Rev.  and  Hon.  Arthur  Perceval. 


THE   FIRST  TRACTARIANS.  3 

(3)  That  the  Successors  of  the  Apostles  are  those  who  are 
descended  in  a  direct  line  from  them,  by  the  impo- 
sition of  Hands  ;  and  that  the  delegates  of  these  are 
the  respective  presbyters  whom  each  has  commis- 
sioned. 

II.  That  it  is  sinful  voluntarily  to  allow  the  interference  of 
persons  or  bodies,  not  members  of  the  Church,  in  matters  spiri- 
tual. 

III.  That  it  is  desirable  to  make  the  Church  more  popular  as 
far  as  it  is  consistent  with  the  maintenance  of  its  apostolical 
character. 

Newman  and  Palmer  add,  but  Keble  demurs  : 

IV.  We  protest  against  all  efforts  directed  to  the  subversion 
of  existing  Institutions,  or  to  the  Separation  of  Church  and  State. 

V.  We  think  it  a  duty  steadily  to  contemplate  and  provide  for 
the  contingency  of  such  a  separation. 

Keble  demurs  to  these,  because  he  thinks  the  union  of  Church 
and  State,  as  it  is  now  understood,  actually  sinful.  In  the  rest  we 
agree. 

VI.  We  hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every  clergyman  to  stir  up 
his  brother  clergy  to  the  consideration  of  these  and  similar  sub- 
jects, and  if  possible  to  induce  them  to  do  the  same. 

If  you  object  to  any  of  these,  or  anything  else  strikes  you  of 
greater  or  equal  importance,  is  it  troubling  you  too  much  to  ask 
that  you  will  write  to  one  of  us  ? 

It  is  very  important  that  we  should  all  pull  together,  and 
preach  the  same  thing ;  at  least,  if  our  opinions  ever  make  a  noise 
it  will  be  so. 

So  much  for  principles — next  as  to  their  application.  Does 
any  plan  strike  you  on  which  we  could  organize  arrangements  for 
the  wide  publication  of  tracts  on  such  subjects? 

Could  we  not,  by  means  of  our  friends  and  our  friends'  friends, 
contrive  railroads  and  canals  for  the  diffusion  of  apostolical  know- 
ledge ? 

We  mean  to  have  the  Epistle  of  St.  Ignatius  printed  very 
cheap  ;  perhaps  on  handbills  with  woodcuts  of  his  martyrdom  on 


4  FIRST  PRINCIPLES. 

the  top,  and  the  parts  about  Bishops  printed  in  capitals,  perhaps 
in  red  letters.  But  this  will  be  of  little  use  if  we  cannot  circulate 
them  widely.  As  to  the  clergy,  perhaps  the  British  Magazine 
is  the  best  way  of  getting  at  them. 

But  we  may  do  much  by  writing  on  the  subj  ects  aforesaid  to  all 
our  friends,  insisting  much  on  their  importance,  and  getting  them 
to  do  the  same. 

Such  of  us  as  know  each  other  well  and  can  be  sure  of  never 
splitting  on  minor  points,  may  perhaps  form  a  joint  stock  company 
to  supply  means  for  printing  tracts  we  approve  on  a  large  scale, 
but  all  this  is  for  a  much  more  advanced  stage  of  our  proceedings, 
only  it  is  as  well  to  keep  it  in  view. 

I  shall  leave  Oxford  next  Friday,  and  shall  be  in  Devonshire 
for  the  next  month  at  Darlington,  near  Totnes,  Devon  ;  but  you 
had  best  write,  not  to  me  but  to  Keble  or  Palmer,  for  whom  I 
only  officiate  as  an  understrapper. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  I  forget  the  watering-place  you  were  going 
to,  so  I  direct  to  your  Parsonage. 

Yours  very  truly, 

R.  H.  Froude. 

Oriel  College,  August  14,  1833. 

Palmer  has,  I  believe,  written  to  Rose,  and  we  shall  of  course 
be  much  guided  by  his  advice. 

To  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  A.  P.  Perceval, 

East  Horsley  Rectory,  Surrey. 

"  A  bold  rider,  as  on  horseback,  so  also  in  his  specula- 
tions," this  letter  proves  to  have  been  a  true  saying  of 
Froude,  who  had,  indeed,  "that  strong  hold  of  first  prin- 
ciples, and  that  keen  perception  of  their  value,  that  he  was 
comparatively  indifferent  to  the  revolutionary  action  which 
would  attend  on  their  application  to  a  given  state  of 
things."  * 

*   "Apologia  pro  Vita  sua,"  p.  106.     1864. 


BIRTH  AND  PARENTAGE.  5 

The  history  of  the  movement  which  he  evidently  ex- 
pected would  "  make  a  noise  "  remains  to  be  written.  We 
can  but  gather  up  a  few  records  of  those  who  took  a  part 
in  it,  more  or  less  prominent ;  believing  that  it  will  not  be 
without  profit  to  tell  the  story  of  men  inspired  and  working 
with  a  fresh  keen  ardour  for  principles  which  they  had 
accepted  with  all  the  strength  of  their  being. 

Dr.  Newman's  words  concerning  Mr.  Froude,  quoted 
above,  may  be  truly  said  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir. 
But  in  considering  his  life  and  his  work  there  is  this  draw- 
back, that  the  task  has  fallen  upon  one  who,  in  attempting 
to  fulfil  it,  can  only  tell  the  story  of  a  friend.  Yet  it  may 
be  that  love  unseals  our  eyes  more  than  it  blinds  them, 
permitting  us  to  behold,  even  here,  that  vision  of  inward 
beauty  which  in  eternity  will  be  fully  unveiled. 

"  Clear  stands  Love's  perfect  image  now, 
And  shall  do  evermore, 
And  we  in  awe  and  wonder  bow 
The  scorified  before. 


James  Skinner  was  born  at  Forfar,  in  Scotland,  June 
23,  1 818,  the  youngest  of  ten  children.  He  came  of  a 
family  remarkable  both  for  ability  and  for  devotion  to  the 
Church.  His  great-grandfather,  the  Rev.  John  Skinner, 
born  in  172 1,  had  been  brought  up  in  Presbyterian  prin- 
ciples, but  while  still  a  lad  his  poems  in  the  Scottish  dialect 
attracted  the  attention  of  Lady  Grant  of  Monymusk,  near 
Aberdeen,  who,  in  the  words  of  a  memoir  prefixed  to  his 
works, 

was  pleased  to  encourage  his  rustic  muse,  by  affording  him  in 


6  PERSECUTION  IN  SCOTLAND. 

the  house  of  Monymusk  every  accommodation  for  prosecuting 
his  studies,  and  improving  his  mind  in  the  attainment  of  useful 
learning.  Here  it  was  that,  enjoying  the  conversation  and  the 
benefit  of  reading  under  the  direction  of  a  worthy  clergyman  in 
that  neighbourhood,  he  became  a  convert  to  the  principles  of 
Episcopacy,  and  united  himself  to  the  venerable  remains  of  the 
old-established  Church  of  Scotland. 

He  married  the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hunter,  the 
only  clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  communion  in  the  Shet- 
land Isles,  "  whose  unwearied  assiduity  in  discharging  the 
duties  of  his  office,  often  at  imminent  risk  of  his  life  in 
those  boisterous  seas,  endeared  him  to  the  people  under  his 
pastoral  charge,  and  made  his  memory  precious  among 
them." 

Mr.  Skinner  received  holy  orders  from  Bishop  Dunbar, 
and  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Episcopal  congregation 
at  Longside,  near  Peterhead,  to  whom  he  ministered  for 
sixty-five  years.  It  was  a  time  of  trial  to  his  steadfast 
principles,  for,  in  the  words  of  his  biographer, 

after  the  last  Stuart  rising  in  1745,  the  Scotch  Episcopal  Church 
was  doomed  to  feel,  as  a  community,  not  only  the  rigour  of  the 
law,  but  some  of  the  most  cruel  effects  of  military  violence. 
Their  chapels,  or  meeting-houses,  were  either  burnt  to  the  ground, 
or  otherwise  demolished  by  parties  of  armed  men  sent  through 
the  country  for  that  purpose ;  and  many  of  the  clergy  were  obliged 
to  leave  their  houses,  under  the  terror  of  immediate  imprisonment 
if  found  at  home ;  nay,  to  leave  them  to  the  mercy  of  plundering 
soldiers,  out  of  the  reach  of  discipline,  or  acting  under  the  com- 
mand of  officers  of  the  lowest  rank,  eager,  by  the  strict  execution 
of  this  barbarous  service,  to  raise  themselves  in  the  esteem  of 
some  furious  and  enraged  superior. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  through  the  North  of  Scotland  in 


MILITARY  LAW.  7 

the  summer  of  1746,  during  which  the  Episcopal  clergy  could 
hardly  find  a  home  or  place  of  safety ;  and  poor  Mr.  Skinner  was 
for  the  most  part  a  prisoner,  either  in  custody  or  on  his  parole, 
uncertain  how  or  when  he  might  be  called  to  undergo  some 
heavier  punishment.  The  writer  of  this  memoir  has  often  heard 
him  tell  that,  on  coming  home  one  evening  from  performing  an 
occasional  office  in  the  way  of  his  duty,  he  found  his  house  in  the 
possession  of  a  military  party,  some  of  them  guarding  a  door  with 
fixed  bayonets,  and  others  searching  the  several  apartments,  even 
the  bedchamber  where  Mrs.  Skinner  was  lying-in  of  her  fifth  child, 
and  little  able  to  bear  such  a  rude,  unseasonable  visit.  No  lenity 
was  to  be  looked  for  from  such  unfeeling  visitors,  who  pillaged  the 
house  of  everything  they  could  carry  with  them,  hardly  leaving  a 
change  of  linen  to  father,  mother,  or  child  in  the  family.  The 
chapel  with  all  its  furniture  was  destroyed,  and  for  several  years 
the  congregation  could  find  no  place  to  meet  in  for  public  worship 
but  the  clergyman's  house,  which  not  being  sufficiently  large, 
many  of  them  were  obliged  to  stand  in  the  open  air  during  divine 
service. 

In  1746  and  1748  (says  a  writer  in  the  "  Encyclopedia 
Britannica ")  two  laws  were  enacted  against  the  Scotch  Episco- 
palians, which,  under  the  pretence  of  eradicating  their  attachment 
to  the  house  of  Stuart,  were  so  contrived  as  to  preclude  such  of 
their  clergy  as  were  willing  to  pay  allegiance  to  the  reigning 
sovereign,  and  to  pray  for  the  royal  family  by  name,  from  reaping 
the  smallest  benefit  from  their  loyalty. 

Under  these  Acts  Mr.  Skinner  was  very  unexpectedly 
apprehended  in  1753,  and  being  not  willing  to  give  the 
court  any  trouble  in  calling  evidence  to  prove  his  having 
been  guilty  of  the  offence  with  which  he  was  charged,  he 
"  emitted  before  the  sheriff  a  voluntary  confession,  acknow- 
ledging that,  in  the  discharge  of  his  professional  duty,  he 
had  been  in  the  practice  of  officiating  as  a  clergyman  to 


8  SCOTCH  BALLADS. 

more  than  four  persons  besides  his  own  family."  In  con- 
sequence of  this  confession,  he  was  sentenced  to  six  months' 
imprisonment. 

His  "  Verses  in  the  Scottish  Dialect "  are  full  of  true 
poetical  genius.  Robert  Burns,  in  his  "  Strictures  on  Scot- 
tish Songs  and  Ballads,"  says — 

This  first  of  Songs  (Tullochgorum)  is  the  masterpiece  of  my 
old  friend  Skinner.  He  was  passing  the  day  at  the  town  of 
Ellon  in  a  friend's  house,  whose  name  was  Montgomery.  Mrs. 
Montgomery  observing  e7i  passant  that  the  beautiful  Reel  of  Tul- 
lochgorum wanted  words,  she  begged  them  of  Mr.  Skinner,  who 
gratified  her  wishes,  and  the  wishes  of  every  lover  of  Scottish  song, 
in  this  most  excellent  ballad. 

In  1787  Burns  made  a  tour  in  the  north  and  west  of  Scot- 
land, and  by  chance  met  Mr.  Skinner's  son  at  Aberdeen, 
who  wrote  the  following  account  of  their  meeting  to  his 
father  : — 

Calling  at  the  printing-office  the  other  day,  whom  should  I 
meet  on  the  stair  but  the  famous  Burns,  the  Ayrshire  Bard  !  And 
on  Mr.  Chalmers  telling  him  that  I  was  the  son  of  Tullochgorum, 
there  was  no  help  but  I  must  step  into  the  inn  hard  by,  and  drink 
a  glass  with  him  and  the  printer.  Our  time  was  short,  as  he  was 
just  setting  off  for  the  south,  and  his  companion  hurrying  him ; 
but  we  had  fifty  "auld  sangs  "  through  hand,  and  spent  an  hour  or 
so  most  agreeably.  "Did  not  your  father  write  the  ' Ewie  wV  the 
crooked  horn  '  .?"  "  Yes."  "  O,  an  I  had  the  lown  that  did  it !  " 
said  he,  in  a  rapture  of  praise;  "but  tell  him  howl  love  and 
esteem  and  venerate  his  truly  Scottish  muse."  On  my  mentioning 
his  "  Ewie  "  and  how  you  were  delighted  with  it,  he  said  it  was  all 
owing  to  yours,  which  had  started  the  thought.  He  had  been  at 
Gordon  Castle  and  come  by  Peterhead.  "  Then,"  said  I,  "  you 
were  within  four  Scottish  miles  of  Tullochgorum 's  dwelling."  Had 
you  seen  the  look  he  gave,  and  how  expressive  of  vexation, — had 


LETTER  FROM  ROBERT  BURNS.  g 

he  been  your  own  son,  you  could  not  have  wished  a  better  proof 
of  affection. 

A  few  days  later,  Burns  writes  to  Mr.  Skinner  : 

I  regret,  and  while  I  live  shall  regret,  that  when  I  was  in  the 
North,  I  had  not  the  pleasure  of  paying  a  younger  brother's  dutiful 
respect  to  the  Author  of  the  best  Scotch  song  ever  Scotland  saw — 
"  Tullochgorum's  my  delight  !  "  The  world  may  think  slightingly 
of  the  craft  of  song-making  if  they  please,  but,  as  Job  says,  "  O  ! 
that  mine  adversary  had  written  a  book  ! "  let  them  try. 

One  extract  from  Mr.  Skinner's  answer  to  Burns  must 
be  given  ;  the  letter  is  dated  November  14,  1787  : 

While  I  was  young  I  dabbled  a  good  deal  in  these  things ; 

but  on  getting  the  black  gown,  I  gave  it  pretty  much  over,  till  my 

daughters  grew  up,  who  being  all  tolerably  good  singers,  plagued 

me  for  words  to  some  of  their  favourite  tunes,  and  so  extorted 

those  effusions  which  have  made  a  public  appearance  beyond  my 

expectations,  and  contrary  to  my  intentions ;  at  the  same  time 

that  I  hope  there  is  nothing  to  be  found  in  them  uncharacteristic, 

or   unbecoming   the   cloth,    which    I    would  always  wish  to  see 

respected.  .  .   .  Meantime,   while  you  are  thus  publicly,  I  may 

say,   employed,   do   not   sheath    your   own  proper  and  piercing 

weapon.     From  what  I  have  seen  of  yours  already,  I  am  inclined 

to   hope   for   much   good.     One  lesson  of  virtue  and  morality 

delivered   in   your  amusing   style,   and  from  such  as  you,   will 

operate  more  than  dozens  would  do  from  such  as  me,  who  shall 

be   told    it   is    our    employment,   and   be    never  more  minded; 

whereas,  from  a  pen  like   yours,  as  being  one  of  the  many,  what 

comes  will  be  admired,  admiration  will  .produce  regard,  and  regard 

will  leave  an  impression,  especially  when  example  goes  along. 

"  Now  binna  saying  I'm  ill  bred, 
Else  by  my  troth  I'll  no  be  glad  ! 
For  cadgers,  ye  have  heard  it  said, 

An'  sic  like  fry, 
Maun  ay  be  harling  in  their  trade, 

An'  so  maun  I." 


10  BISHOP  SKINNER. 

Wishing  you,  from  my  poet-pen,  all  success,  and  in  my  other 
character,  all  happiness  and  heavenly  direction,  I  remain  with 
esteem, 

Your  sincere  friend, 

John  Skinner. 

The  venerable  priest  lived  to  see  his  son  Primus  of  the 
Scotch  Church.  He  writes  to  him,  with  a  trembling  hand, 
on  May  25,  1807,  accepting  a  pressing  invitation  to  spend 
his  last  days  in  the  Bishop's  house  at  Aberdeen : 

I  cordially  embrace  your  proposal,  and  am  making  ready  to 
be  with  you,  God  willing,  next  week.  By  that  time  you  will  have 
got  your  Forfar  friends  about  you,  and  I  wish  much  to  share  in 
that  pleasure  and  see  once  more  my  children's  grandchildren  and 
peace  upon  Israel.  So  God  grant  us  a  happy  meeting  even  here, 
and  at  last  a  still  more  happy  meeting  in  Abraham's  bosom 
hereafter. 

The  inscription  on  his  monument,  in  the  churchyard  of 
Longside,  notes  that  "  on  the  16th  day  of  June,  1807,  aged 
86  years,  he  slept  the  sleep  of  death,  in  the  arms  of  the 
Right  Rev.  John  Skinner,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Aber- 
deen, his  only  surviving  son." 

Bishop  Skinner  had  two  sons,  who  both  entered  holy 
orders  :  William,  who  was  also  Primus  of  Scotland  and 
Bishop  of  Aberdeen  from  his  father's  death  in  i8i6to  1857, 
and  John,  Dean  of  Dunkeld  and  Dumblane,  and  Priest  of 
St.  John's  Church,  Forfar.  He  married,  in  1798,  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Provost  Ure  of  Forfar.  She  died  of  consump- 
tion in  1820,  two  years  after  the  birth  of  her  youngest  child 
James,  and  in  1822  Dean  Skinner  married  Innes,  daughter 
of  John  DufT,  Esq.,  of  Dundee,  who,  childless  herself,  became 
the  most  devoted  of  mothers  to  her  step-children.     But  her 


DURHAM  UNIVERSITY.  II 

heart  went  out  in  an  especial  manner  to  the  youngest,  a 
delicate  fragile  child,  inheriting,  it  was  feared,  his  mother's 
disease,  and  he  clung  to  her  in  return  with  the  most  ardent 
affection.  Under  her  care  he  struggled  through  the  delicacy 
of  his  early  years,  and  at  ten  years  old  was  sent  to  school, 
first  in  Aberdeen.  In  1832  he  went  to  Marischall  College, 
in  the  same  city,  and  in  1833  to  Durham  University,  when 
only  fifteen.  Archdeacon  Wright,  Rector  of  Greatham, 
Petersfield,  his  great  friend  at  Durham,  gives  the  following 
account  of  those  early  days  : — 

James  Skinner  was  admitted  a  Foundation  scholar  when  the 
Durham  University  was  first  opened.  He  was  very  young — I 
believe  he  had  not  attained  his  sixteenth  year — but  he  had  the 
appearance  of  a  youth  of  twenty,  was  bright  and  cheerful,  and  soon 
became  a  general  favourite.  Although  physically  far  from  strong, 
he  was  mentally  far  beyond  his  years,  but  from  want  of  good 
training  was,  on  starting,  deficient  in  accurate  scholarship.  He 
had  evidently  lived  in  an  atmosphere  of  high  intelligence  and 
theological  learning,  and  had  heard  much  of  Church  matters  and 
the  opinions  of  sound  divines.  This  gave  him  a  marked  advantage 
over  his  fellows,  and  enabled  him  always  to  take  a  good  place 
in  any  divinity  class ;  indeed,  his  papers  in  that  direction  were 
strikingly  able,  and  surprised  the  tutors  of  the  University  not  a 
little. 

The  habits  of  James  Skinner  were  at  first  in  no  way  studious — 
I  might  say  quite  the  reverse.  He  would,  when  necessary,  read 
closely  for  the  Debating  Society,  in  which  his  powers  as  a  speaker 
soon  became  notorious.  Possessed  of  a  discerning  mind  and 
great  command  of  language,  he  had  qualifications  to  render  him 
an  orator  of  no  mean  kind.  His  speeches  were  so  powerful,  and 
his  manner  so  quiet  and  self-possessed,  that  few  believed  him  to 
be  a  youth  of  sixteen.  In  after  years  this  gift  was  very  telling 
at  public  meetings  and  in  the  pulpit.  Strange  to  say,  at  a  very 
early  period  of  his  priestly  career,  he  seemed  to  avoid  as  far  as 


12  LETTER  FROM  ARCHDEACON  WRIGHT. 

possible   any   gatherings   which   would   call    forth   his   oratorical 
powers. 

Of  his  very  early  education  I  know  nothing,  but  feel  sure  that 
he  never  had  the  advantage  of  public  school  instruction.  His 
abilities,  I  have  already  said,  were  of  a  high  order,  but  had  never 
been  carefully  cultivated ;  and  when  he  entered  Durham  Univer- 
sity, a  mere  boy  in  years,  the  amusements  and  pleasures  offered 
by  a  large  circle  of  generous  friends  in  and  around  the  old  city 
interfered  much  with  anything  like  close  study.  Dinners,  dances, 
picnics,  and  archery  meetings  were  constantly  tempting  the  young 
student,  and  certainly  no  one  more  enjoyed  and,  in  his  way,  more 
adorned  society  than  my  dear  friend.  A  Scotch  reel  was  his 
delight,  and  loud  and  hearty  were  his  shouts  when  revelling  in  a 
Highland  fling.  Good  spirits,  a  strong  sense  of  the  ludicrous,  a 
warm  and  loving  heart,  an  able  brain,  with  a  thoroughly  honest 
learning,  combined  to  make  him  a  favourite  everywhere. 

Towards  the  close  of  every  term  he  became  alive  to  his  neglect 
of  study,  and  proved  what  might  have  been  achieved  by  his  high 
intelligence  had  he  been  consistently  persevering.  About  a  fort- 
night before  the  examination  the  door  of  Skinner's  room  was 
locked ;  no  one  could  get  admission ;  every  hour  was  given  up  to 
the  closest  application,  so  that  he  might  make  up  as  far  as  possible 
for  the  time  which  had  been  devoted  to  amusements.  When  the 
lists  came  out  his  name  always  occupied  a  respectable  place. 

After  residing  two  years  at  Durham,  I  went  up  to  Cambridge, 
and  so  for  a  season  lost  sight  of  my  friend.  He  afterwards  told 
me  that  it  was  then  he  began  to  feel  seriously  that  he  had  wasted 
much  valuable  time,  and  determined  henceforth  to  devote  himself 
more  closely  to  books.  He  became  assistant  master  at  King 
William's  College,  Isle  of  Man  j  and  must  have  then  used  well 
his  opportunity,  for  eventually  he  was  elected  to  a  Fellowship  in 
Durham  University,  and  afterwards,  throughout  a  life  of  long  and 
severe  bodily  suffering,  secured  by  a  holy  career  devoted  to 
literary  pursuits  the  love  and  respect  of  a  very  large  circle  of 
friends,  among  whom  were  many  of  the  most  distinguished 
scholars  and  divines  of  England — nay,  of  Europe. 


VOCATION  TO   THE  PRIESTHOOD.  1 3 

A  letter  from   his   father  shows  how  early  the  young 
student  had  chosen  the  priesthood  as  his  sacred  profession  : 

February  2,  1834. 
.  .  .  When  I  came  to  that  part  of  your  letter  which  intimated 
your  resolution  to  become  a  clergyman,  I  was  actually  moved 
to  tears  !  I  prayed  most  fervently  that,  in  adopting  the  profession 
of  your  fathers,  you  might  be  aided  by  that  Spirit  from  on  high 
of  whom  cometh  both  our  strength  and  support,  as  well  as  our 
desire  to  devote  ourselves  to  the  service  of  Him  who  is  "  Head 
over  all  things  to  His  Church  which  is  His  body,  the  fulness  of 
Him  that  filleth  all  in  all."  Unquestionably,  let  your  studies  be 
prosecuted  at  Durham,  and  there  (if  God  permits)  let  your  ordina- 
tion as  well  as  your  degrees  be  conferred.  What  changes  of 
overwhelming  importance  are  about  to  be  recklessly  introduced 
by  "  the  powers  that  be,"  you  cannot  fail  to  be  aware  ;  but  to  the 
man,  imbued  as  your  fathers  have  been,  with  no  other  sentiment 
or  motive  but  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  souls,  what 
avails  the  loss  of  those  things  which  "  are  of  the  earth,  earthy  "  ? 
The  very  gates  of  hell,  we  are  told,  shall  not  be  suffered  to  pi'evail 
against  the  Church  ;  and  if  we,  fearless  of  the  times  in  which  our 
lot  is  cast,  persevere  unto  the  end  of  our  course,  we  have  high 
authority  for  believing  that  we  shall  be  both  sanctified  and 
saved." 

In  1836  James  Skinner  took  his  degree,  and  a  second 
class  in  honours.  A  letter  dated  February  10,  1836,  from 
his  father  to  Bishop  Van  Mildert,  of  Durham,  an  old  friend 
of  Bishop  Skinner,  was  found  amongst  the  Bishop's  papers, 
and  is  touching  in  the  deep  fatherly  anxiety  expressed  in 
old-fashioned  phraseology.     He  asks  from  the  Bishop 

such  counsel  and  advice,  as  may  enable  me  to  forward  my 
beloved  Son's  design  of  following  the  profession  of  his  Fathers  for 
three  succeeding  generations ; 


14  LETTER  FROM  DEAN  SKINNER. 

and  he  continues  : 

Being  now,  however,  only  in  his  eighteenth  year,  notwith- 
standing his  Eligibility  for  a  Bachelor's  degree,  he  is  far  from 
being  eligible  for  Holy  Orders.  Hence  the  difficulty  which  I 
and  his  other  Relations  in  Scotland  labour  under,  as  to  his  dis- 
posal, during  his  minority.  He  himself  is  of  opinion,  that  could 
he  obtain  the  situation  of  Tutor  in  an  English  Family  of  truly 
sound  Political  as  well  as  Religious  Principle,  with  access  to  a 
good  Library,  he  would  pass  the  time  more  profitably,  than 
perhaps  in  any  other  Situation.  But  alas!  in  my  sequestered 
Retreat  I  have  no  access  to  any  such  family,  nor  am  I  capable  to 
aid  my  Dear  young  Man  in  this,  or  any  other  attempt  after 
suitable  employment. 

Bishop  Van  Mildert  was  then  suffering  from  his  last 
illness,  but  the  letter  is  endorsed  by  him  in  faint  pencil. 
His  death,  on  February  21,  1836,  prevented  the  help  which 
he  would  probably  have  given  to  the  grandson  of  his  old 
friend,  and  James  Skinner  remained  at  Durham,  studying, 
until  the  spring  of  1839,  when  he  became  Licentiate  of 
Theology.  Dean  Ranken,  of  Deer  Parsonage,  near  Mintlaw, 
N.B.,  writes  of  him  about  this  time : 

He  was  present,  as  a  young  layman  guest,  at  the  dinner  which 
followed  the  triennial  meeting  of  the  Scotch  Episcopal  Friendly 
Society,  when  something  brought  him  to  his  feet,  and  he  made  an 
enthusiastic  speech,  the  theme  of  which  was  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, only  then  beginning  to  emerge  from  more  than  a  century's 
obscurity.  The  speech  was  applauded  to  the  echo,  and  I  remem- 
ber taking  a  note  of  it  in  my  own  mind,  and  thinking  that  when 
he  came  to  serve  the  Church  as  a  Priest,  he  would  make  his  mark. 
He  was  then  about  nineteen  or  twenty.  For  many  years  his 
uncle  Bishop  William  Skinner's  house  was  my  home  during  my 
visits  to  Aberdeen,  and  there  I  not  unfrequently  saw  James  and 
his  brothers  in  their  schoolboy  holiday  time — he  the  brightest  of 
them  all,  and  full  of  fun  and  repartee. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ORDINATION  AND   FIRST  WORK, 
i 839-1 846. 
" Our  Love  was  new,  and  then  but  in  the  spring." 

In  July,  1839,  James  Skinner  accepted  an  invitation  from 
his  college  friend,  St.  Clere  Raymond,  to  pay  him  a  visit  at 
his  father's  home,  Belchamp  Hall,  in  Essex.  One  of  the 
family  livings,  Middleton,  was,  and  is,  held  by  St  Clere's 
uncle,  the  Rev.  Oliver  Raymond,  and  as  the  Hall  and 
Rectory  were  only  five  miles  apart,  the  two  brothers  and 
their  families  met  continually.  It  is  impossible  either  to 
omit  the  beautiful  story  which  follows,  or  to  give  it  in 
other  words  than  those  in  which  it  has  been  told  : — 

I  cannot  hope  to  make  you  know  what  the  charm  of  Middleton 
Rectory  was  in  the  days  of  which  I  write,  filled  with  the  bright- 
ness and  merry  voices  of  five  fair  and  happy  sisters.  Their  beauty 
and  animation  would  alone  have  made  the  house  delightful,  but 
in  addition  they  inherited  from  both  father  and  mother  very  un- 
usual talents  both  for  music  and  painting.  Mr.  Raymond  had 
made  a  valuable  collection  of  pictures,  and  he  never  allowed  an 
evening  to  pass  without  music,  in  which  he  took  an  active  part 
himself,  being  a  proficient  on  the  violin ;  indeed,  at  most  times 
the  house  was,  like  Prospero's  isle,  "full  of  sweet  sounds." 


1 6  BELCH  A  MP  HALL. 

There  was,  of  course,  frequent  visiting  between  Belchamp 
Hall  and  Middleton  Rectory ;  and  Agnes,  Mr.  Oliver  Raymond's 
second  daughter,  was  an  especial  favourite  with  her  uncle.  I 
think  that  he  went  to  Middleton  one  day,  towards  the  end  of  July, 
to  bring  her  back  to  Belchamp  to  assist  him  in  making  a  catalogue 
of  his  pictures.  I  know  that  St.  Clere  went  there,  taking  with 
him  his  friend,  James  Skinner,  who  was  staying  with  us  at  the 
Hall ;  and  that  was  the  first  meeting  of  two  who  were  soon  to  be 
all  and  all  to  each  other.  Agnes  returned  with  them  to  Belchamp 
Hall,  which  is  just  the  scene  for  the  idyl  which  soon  began. 
Perhaps  we  were  imprudent — certainly  no  one  had  thought  of 
probable  consequences ;  and  yet  what  else  could  have  been 
expected  when  such  a  youth  and  maiden  met,  in  the  very  bloom 
of  their  early  beauty  and  brightness  ?  There  were  daily  wander- 
ings among  those  ancient  avenues  and  gardens,  after-dinner 
strolls,  and  musical  evenings ;  and  they  loved  each  other  before 
they  knew  it  Such  things  happen  every  day  \  but  it  is  not  often 
that  first  love  is  so  deep  and  constant  in  a  youth  of  twenty-one 
and  a  girl  a  few  years  younger,  as  to  remain  unchanged,  only 
increasing  in  depth  and  tenderness,  through  nine  years  of 
hindrances  and  separation. 

Agnes  did  not  stay  long  at  Belchamp,  and  nothing  was  said  or 
suspected.  She  left  us  on  a  Monday,  and  returned  with  two  of  her 
sisters  the  following  week  for  a  ball  in  the  neighbourhood.  How 
strange  it  is  to  me  to  look  back  through  the  vista  of  years,  and  see 
in  memory  those  two  young  creatures  as  they  were  at  the  ball  that 
evening ;  dancing  together  whenever  it  was  possible  : — he  tall  and 
dark,  with  those  wonderful  eyes,  and  such  brightness  and  spirit 
as  I  never  knew  in  any  one  else ;  she  small  and  fair,  and  as  gay 
as  he  was. 

You  must  forgive  an  old  woman's  love  story.  Next  day  there 
came  the  only  shadow  which  I  do  believe  ever  fell  upon  the  love 
of  those  two  hearts  from  the  moment  they  first  met  until  death — 
nay,  until  now ;  for  death  touches  not  such  sacred  love  as  theirs. 
Some  one  told  James  that  Agnes  was  engaged.  He  believed  it 
at  first,  and  drew  back,  wounded  to  the  quick ;  while  she,  feeling 


BETROTHAL.  1 7 

the  change,' became  cold  and  proud.  Had  he  been  like  most 
youths  of  his  age,  this  false  report  had  probably  parted  them ;  and 
I  think  it  was  a  proof  of  an  uncommon  character  that  his  faith  in 
her,  after  so  short  an  acquaintance,  triumphed,  and  that  he 
determined  not  to  lose  her  without  hearing  the  truth  from  her 
own  lips.  He  went  to  Middleton  Rectory  the  next  day,  and  find- 
ing an  opportunity  said  to  her,  "  I  have  had  a  great  shock.  I 
have  been  told  that  you  are  engaged."  And  here  the  love  story 
of  their  life  began,  though  mine  must  end,  for  from  that  moment 
their  lives  became  as  one. 

But  of  worldly  hindrances  to  their  union  there  were  abundance ; 
both  were  without  fortune,  and  the  lover  as  yet  without  employ- 
ment. He  returned  to  Belchamp  Hall  on  the  evening  of  the  day 
on  which  they  had  plighted  their  troth  to  each  other,  and  without 
having  an  interview  with  Agnes'  parents.  An  engagement  at 
Cambridge  which  could  not  be  put  off  obliged  him  to  leave 
Belchamp  the  next  morning  for  a  few  days,  but  before  he  left  he 
wrote  a  letter  to  Agnes'  father,  which  St.  Clere  promised  to  take 
to  him,  and  it  was  arranged  that  James  should  go  over  to  Mid- 
dleton to  learn  his  fate  on  his  return  from  Cambridge.  Agnes 
has  told  me  how  she  watched  him  riding  up  to  the  door,  looking 
pale  and  nervous,  and  of  her  father  meeting  him  at  the  entrance 
with  a  cheery  "  Come  in,  my  dear  fellow,"  which  greatly  comforted 
him.  An  interview  followed,  in  which  her  lover  completely  gained 
her  father's  heart,  who  fully  sanctioned  the  engagement,  but  was 
wisely  firm  in  refusing  to  entertain  any  thought  of  marriage  until 
the  young  man  had  taken  orders,  and  could  offer  a  home  to  his 
daughter.  Meanwhile,  he  was  at  once  received  as  a  son  and 
brother  by  the  household  at  Middleton. 

I  do  not  think  that  Agnes'  mother  could  have  loved  him  more 
had  he  been  her  own  son. 

From  Middleton  James  Skinner  went  to  stay  with  Dr. 
Hook  at  Leeds.  He  had  always  looked  forward  to  receiving 
his  title  to  orders  from  him,  and  was  anxious  to  see  some- 

C 


1 3  KING    WILLIAM'S  COLLEGE. 

thing  of  the  place  where  he  hoped  in  two  years'  time  to  be 
at  work.  One  extract  from  a  letter  to  his  betrothed  will 
show  the  spirit  in  which  he  entered  upon  his  engagements 
and  regarded  his  prospects  of  earthly  happiness  : — 

The  Vicarage,  Leeds,  August  21,  1839. 

,  .  .  How  fervent  are  my  prayers  to  God,  to  sanctify  our 
union  of  hearts  with  the  gentle  influences  of  His  Holy  Spirit,  and 
make  love  and  fear  of  Him  a  bond  between  ourselves.     I  pray  for 

you,   dear ,  for  in  a  good  and  gracious  God  is  my  implicit 

trust,  and  that  He  will  help  us  both,  and  keep  us  heart  and  soul, 
first  His,  and  then  each  other's. 

I  have  spent  two  delightful  days  with  my  worthy  and  affec- 
tionate friend,  Dr.  Hook,  and  am  now  just  leaving.  His  affec- 
tionate and  kind  greeting  of  me  on  Wednesday  quite  filled  my 
heart,  and  his  pressing  invitation  to  stay  on,  notwithstanding  his 
own  engagement  to  go  to  the  Archbishop  of  York's  to-morrow,  is 
a  most  painful  thing  to  refuse.  How  I  long  to  be  settled  under 
him  !  I  shall  love  him  as  my  father.  I  met  a  party  of  twelve 
clergy  at  dinner  yesterday,  the  celebrated  missionary  Dr.  Wolff 
among  them,  who  preached  an  extraordinary  sermon  in  St.  James' 
in  the  evening. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Skinner  was  appointed  third  mas- 
ter at  King  William's  College,  Isle  of  Man,  for  which  many 
others  were  his  rival  candidates.  His  testimonials  gained 
the  appointment  for  him,  in  spite  of  his  youth,  and  of  much 
prejudice  against  him  in  the  mind  of  the  Principal  on 
account  of  rumours  that  he  was  "  a  violent  Oxford  Tract 
party  man.''  He  began  his  work  at  the  college  in  Sep- 
tember, 1839,  and  remained  there  until  June,  1841. 

I  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  in  his  classes  (the  Rev.  George 
Deerr  wrote  *)  "  more  than  forty  years  ago,  when  he  was  an  under- 

*  In  the  Guardian  of  January  18,  1S82. 


LETTER  FROM  REV.    GEORGE  DEERR.  19 

master  at  King  William's  College,  Isle  of  Man,  previous  to  his 
graduating  as  M.A.  at  Durham,  and  words  cannot  tell  how  he  was 
loved,  feared,  and  reverenced  by  his  pupils. 

He  came  among  us  like  a  star  from  heaven,  for  it  was  in  the 
days  when  the  connection  between  master  and  pupil  was  "war  to 
the  knife,"  when  every  lapsus  memories  was  visited  with  a  stripe, 
and  a  boy's  supreme  object  was  to  escape  punishment. 

Mr.  Skinner,  however,  reversed  this  order  of  things,  so  far  as 
forms  were  concerned.  He  not  only  was  an  able  teacher,  clothing 
with  vitality  what  would  have  been  to  many  the  dry  dust  of  Homer, 
but  he  so  impressed  even  rough  raw  lads  by  his  dignified  kindly 
courtesy,  his  polished  mannerism  and  earnest  devoutness,  that  he 
rarely  had  occasion  to  resort  to  corporal  punishment. 

On  his  leaving,  we  presented  him  with  a  copy  of  Bingham's 
"  Christian  Antiquities,"  which  we  considered  a  suitable  gift  to  one 
whose  catholic-mindedness  was  pronond  even  in  those  days,  and 
whose  last  words  to  us  on  returning  thanks  were,  "  Never  forget 
your  Mother,  the  Church." 

Should  any  of  his  friends  wish  to  perpetuate  his  memory,  I 
shall  be  too  glad  to  give  anything  in  my  power  for  one  who  con- 
tributed so  largely  to  the  happiness  of  my  life."  * 

During  the  summer  vacation  of  1840  he  went  to  Dur- 
ham to  take  his  M.A.  degree,  and  soon  after  was  elected 
Fellow  of  that  University.  A  pamphlet  published  by  him 
in  1840,  "  On  the  Observance  of  Lent,"  is  remarkable  even 
now  for  its  strong  grasp  of  principle  and  perception  of 
the  true  basis  of  national  prosperity,  as  well  as  its  evidence 
of  theological  learning,  very  uncommon  in  a  youth  of 
twenty-two. 

On  June  27,  1841,  Mr.  Skinner  was  ordained  Deacon  by 

*  In  a  letter  written  after  Mr.  Skinner's  death  to  his  widow,  Mr.  Deerr 
says,  "  I  think  I  ought  to  tell  you  that  I  am  not  of  your  husband's  school  of 
thought,  but  I  am  a  catholic  in  charity,  and  my  testimony  to  his  worth  and 
saintliness  should  perhaps  therefore  be  the  more  valuable." 


20  ORDINATION. 

the  Bishop  of  Peterborough  at  his  cathedral,  receiving  a 
title  from  Archdeacon  Wilberforce,  and  entering  at  once 
upon  work  as  Curate  of  Burton  Agnes.  There  was  no 
vacancy  at  the  time  for  a  curate  at  Leeds,  so  that  he  was 
obliged  to  give  up  his  earnest  and  long-cherished  wish  of 
beginning;  his  work  under  Dr.  Hook.  Dr.  Hook  wrote  to 
him  in  January,  1841  : 

I  have  mentioned  you  to  Mr.  Dugard  of  Manchester  and 
to  Archdeacon  Wilberforce  of  York.  I  would  strongly  advise 
you  to  accept  Archdeacon  Wilberforce's  offer.  He  is  entirely 
right. 

In  the  letter  accepting  Archdeacon  Wilberforce's  curacy 
Mr.  Skinner  says — 

Of  my  Church  opinions,  while  I  am  most  ready  to  afford  you 
whatever  information  you  may  desire,  it  may  suffice  to  state  that, 
brought  up  as  I  have  been  in  the  persecuted  Church  of  Scotland, 
I  have  been  taught  to  divest  Catholic  truth  of  all  alloying  external 
influences  prevalent  in  this  Erastian  age,  and  that  I  cherish  and 
value  my  principles  for  themselves.  The  Church,  in  her  ordinances, 
her  Creeds,  and  her  discipline,  is  my  stay,  and  "  to  the  law  and  to 
the  testimony"  is  my  appeal. 

Archdeacon  Wilberforce  wrote  in  answer — 

It  is  certainly  rather  a  blow  to  me  that  you  cannot  come  to  me 
till  June.  But  I  so  much  like  your  letter  that  I  will  wait  if  I  by 
any  means  can. 

The  death  of  his  father  at  Forfar,  on  September  2,  1841, 
was  sudden  at  the  last,  although  for  years  he  had  been  an 
invalid.  The  tidings  were,  of  course,  without  a  moment's 
delay  sent  off  to  James  ;  but  there  was  no  telegraph  in 
those  days  and  no  railroad,  and  it  was  some  days  before 
the  letter  reached  him.     He  started  at  once  and  travelled 


B  UR  TON  A  GNES.  2 1 

night  and  day  without  an  hour's  rest,  only  arriving  at 
home  as  the  funeral  of  his  beloved  father  was  leaving  the 
house.  He  had  been  waited  for  till  the  last  moment  In 
an  almost  fainting  condition,  caused  by  fatigue  and  distress, 
he  threw  himself  from  the  carriage,  and,  supporting  himself 
on  his  brother  William's  arm,  took  his  place  among  the 
mourners. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  Archdeacon's  and  Mrs.  Wil- 
berforce's  kindness  to  the  young  curate,  who  also  acted  as 
tutor  to  their  sons.  He  was  continually  at  the  rectory, 
where  he  was  received  as  a  child  of  the  house,  and  had  the 
advantage  both  of  access  to  a  valuable  library  and  of  form- 
ing the  acquaintance  and  friendship  of  such  men  as  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  Archdeacons  Churton  and  Church,  Charles 
Marriott,  Henry  Coleridge,  Sir  Charles  Anderson,  and 
Archdeacon  (now  Cardinal)  Manning.  On  July  31,  1842, 
he  received  priests'  orders  from  the  Bishop  of  Ripon,  and 
about  a  year  later  was  forced  by  health  to  resign  his  curacy. 
It  was  the  first  of  the  many  trials  of  the  same  kind  which 
through  life  were  laid  upon  him,  forcing  him  to  lay  down 
one  cherished  charge  after  another  at  the  feet  of  the 
Master  from  whom  he  had  received  them.  He  had  suffered 
terribly  latterly  from  attacks  of  quinsy,  and  could  not 
attempt  to  encounter  another  winter  in  the  climate  of  the 
East  Riding  of  Yorkshire  ;  probably  also  his  health  had 
suffered  from  severe  observance  of  seasons  of  fasting. 
Speaking  to  a  friend  towards  the  end  of  his  life  of  the 
discretion  and  guidance  needed  in  the  matter,  he  gave  a 
humorous  account  of  his  own  unassisted  efforts  at  this 
time,  ending  with  :  "  I  was  my  own  guide,  and  an  un- 
commonly bad  guide  I  made." 


22  WORK  AT   WINDSOR. 

He  left  Burton  Agnes  in  the  autumn  of  1845,  and 
undertook  work  the  same  year  for  a  few  months  under  the 
Rev.  Stephen  Hawtrey,  at  Holy  Trinity,  Windsor,  a  new 
district  church,  built  partly  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
troops  quartered  in  the  town.  A  good  deal  of  Mr.  Skin- 
ner's work  was  with  the  soldiers  there.  Canon  Carter 
wrote  :  "  His  powers  as  a  preacher  attracted  considerable 
attention,  and  made  much  impression.  Some  still  resident 
may  remember  the  characteristic  strength  with  which  he 
proclaimed  the  guilt  of  post-baptismal  sin,  in  a  sermon 
which  aroused  a  good  deal  of  attention  and  excitement  at 
the  time."  The  following  letters  from  Dr.  Pusey  were  upon 
this  subject : — 

My  dear  Mr.  Skinner, 

I  cannot  but  agree  with  you  in  your  main  outline  of 
what  you  write  to  me  on  post-baptismal  sin.  Although  one  state- 
ment of  yours  seems  to  me  too  strong;  that /'the  absence  of  wilful 
sin  is  the  condition  of  remaining  within  the  Covenant "  (or  is  not 
the  sort  of  language  which  I  should  use),  I  may  myself  have  led 
you  to  use  the  language  which  I  should  not  now  use  (although  I  do 
not  recollect  having  made  this  statement),  in  that  in  my  tract  on 
Baptism  I  was  intent  on  inculcating  the  doctrine  of  Holy  Scripture 
on  one  point,  without  accompanying  the  teaching  with  that  of 
the  remedial  power  of  the  keys.  The  main  of  what  I  taught  I 
should  teach  now,  that  there  is  this  difference  between  baptismal 
and  any  other  forgiveness,  that  in  Baptism  a  person  becomes 
altogether  "  a  new  creature ; "  that  he  is  a  different  being  from 
what  he  was  before ;  that  he  has  nothing  to  do  with  his  former 
self;  then  he  had  only  his  birth  of  nature,  now  he  is  born  of 
God  ;  then  he  was  out  of  Christ,  now  he  is  in  Christ.  Absolution 
is  a  restoration,  but  conditionally  upon  continued  contrition  in 
proportion  to  his  sin.  It  is  not  an  absolute,  I  suppose,  but  a 
suspended  forgiveness ;  the  sins  belong  to  the  same  self,  whereas 


LETTER  FROM  DR.   PUSEY.  2$ 

what  was  before  Baptism  in  a  heathen  belonged  to  another  self, 
which  was  dead  after  his  new  birth  in  Baptism ;  he  had  nothing 
more  to  do  with  them,  as  far  as  relates  to  God's  judgment,  than  if 
they  had  been  of  another  self.  The  sins  of  the  Christian,  in  pro- 
portion to  their  magnitude,  still  belong  to  him,  are  to  be  repented 
of  to  the  end. 

The  expression  in  your  statement  which  seems  to  me  to  want 
explanation  is  "wilful."  It  is  the  word  of  Holy  Scripture,  "they 
who  sin  wilfully,"  but  not  in  the  sense  in  which  it  would  be  com- 
monly understood  now.  I  should  think  the  expression  which  our 
Church  uses,  "  deadly,"  "  mortal "  sin,  would  explain  your  meaning 
better.  The  word  conveys  its  own  meaning ;  what  is  mortal  or 
deadly  must  destroy  life. 

But,  then,  I  think,  while  insisting  on  the  change  which  heavy 
sin  makes  in  a  person's  state,  we  ought  (which  I  did  not  myself  at 
first)  to  point  to  the  restorative  power  which  Christ  has  lodged  in 
His  Church;  that  He  has  given  the  commission,  "Whosesoever 
sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them,"  although  not  in  the 
easy  way  which  modern  systems  make,  but  upon  what  our  Church 
everywhere  insists  upon,  "  true  repentance." 

Again,  as  you  were  going  on  to  qualify  what  you  said,  there 
will  be  endless  differences  according  to  the  degree  of  light  against 
which  people  sinned,  their  continuance  in  it,  the  way  in  which 
they  were  led  into  it,  its  aggravated  character,  requiring  a  deeper 
penitence  to  efface  it  in  some  cases.  Penitence,  in  proportion 
to  the  sin,  should  never  cease;  but  since  our  gracious  Lord 
has  lodged  the  earnest  of  forgiveness  in  His  Church,  it  may 
be  a  bright,  hopeful,  loving  penitence,  as  Bishop  Andrewes 
quotes  from  the  ancient  Church :  Da  semper  dolere,  et  de  dolore 
gaudere. 

I  think  that,  in  opposition  to  the  easy  systems  of  the  day,  we 
have  to  insist  on  penitence,  as  a  sorrowful,  humble  task,  never  to 
be  laid  aside  ;  that  the  penitent  should  never  forget  what  he  has 
been,  but  continually  bewail  it  before  God,  out  of  love  to  Him, 
because  he  has  offended  Him  and  His  glory.  But,  then,  love 
always   has   comfort.      He   returns  to  a  loving  Father,   not  an 


24  REPENTANCE. 

offended  God  only ;  to  One  who  has  loved  him  so  exceedingly 
and  loves  him  still,  and  has  shown  this  love  by  recalling  him. 
We  must  take  care  that  we  break  not  the  bruised  reed. 

I  have,  of  late  years,  often  had  occasion  to  minister  to  indi- 
vidual cases  of  penitence,  by  receiving  confessions  of  a  whole  life, 
and  I  have  seen  the  restorative  effects  of  absolution — how  the 
chains  fell  off  from  the  hands,  old  habits  (in  some  cases)  were 
conquered,  new  grace  and  light  and  strength  were  infused.  I 
believe  that  sins  are  then  forgiven,  if  there  be  true  contrition,  and 
there  be  no  relapses.  Although  after  relapses  there  may  still  be 
restoration,  and  relapses  must  be  treated  very  tenderly,  lest  such 
be  driven  to  despair. 

If,  then,  I  were  to  word  your  fifth  statement,  it  would  be 
written  thus  : 

Deadly  sin,  after  Baptism,  in  proportion  to  its  malignity, 
destroys  the  life  then  received  ;  and  although  persons  may  be 
restored,  yet  it  is  in  no  easy  way,  but  by  a  deep  penitence,  in 
proportion  to  the  sins. 

And  I  should  not  have  used  the  expression  "  the  promises 
consigned  upon  uninterrupted  sanctity"  which  I  should  think 
might  be  misunderstood  as  implying  something  like  sinlessness, 
whereas  it  is  not  all  sin  which  so  changes  a  person's  state. 

I  should  hope  that  you  and  Mr.  H would  still  come  to  an 

understanding.  I  should  be  very  glad  to  contribute  to  it,  if  I 
might,  for  from  what  I  have  heard,  I  have  a  value  for  him,  and 
think  he  might  understand  you  better. 

I  am  not  sure  whether  I  have  made  myself  clear,  and  my  time 
is  limited  to-night.  I  should  think  you  might  make  some  expla- 
nation of  your  statement,  "  the  absence  of  wilful  sin,"  etc.,  so  as 
to  be  an  explanation,  not  a  retractation,  such  as  what  I  have  written 
in  page  4. 

You  were  going  to  qualify  what  you  had  written.  At  first 
sight,  it  seems  to  allow  too  little  place  for  "  much  forgiven  because 
loving  much,"  to  make  penitence  too  dreary  a  work,  unrelieved 
by  hope  and  love,  and  not  to  take  account  of  the  restoration 
through  the  absolution,  the  Holy  Eucharist,  and  other  appointed 


LETTER  FROM  DR.  PUSEY.  25 

means  (as  I  myself  first  did,  although  I  have  since  endeavoured 
to  supply  what  I  omitted) ;  but  one  sermon  cannot  contain  all. 

You  may  make  any  use  you  please  of  this  letter  to  Mr.  H . 

With  sincere  thanks  for  your  kind  thoughts  of  myself,   and 
wishing  you  all  blessings, 

Yours  very  faithfully, 

E.  B.  Pusey. 
Christ  Church,  2nd  Week  in  Lent,  1845. 

My  dear  Mr.  Skinner, 

I  see  that  I  ought  to  have  gone  a  little  deeper,  and  to 
say  that  I  suspect  the  whole  of  the  "covenant"  theology,  and 
suspect  that  it  brings  us  into  endless  difficulties.  I  know  not 
with  whom  it  began ;  although  it  has  had  its  great  vogue  with  us, 
from  Witsius  and  the  Dutch  school,  and  so  Waterland,  etc.  I 
see  yours  is  from  Bishop  Taylor,  who  is  older,  and  in  whom  it 
has  a  better  meaning.  I  should  think,  then,  that  a  less  technical 
statement  of  your  meaning  would  be  less  objected  to.  That  the 
state  of  Christians  is  implied  to  be  a  state  of  grace  in  which  all 
former  sins  having  been  by  Baptism  utterly  effaced,  and  the  Image 
of  God  renewed  upon  him,  he  is  to  grow  in  grace,  that  image 
deepened  in  him,  as  he  himself  is  more  conformed  to  that  image. 
That  deadly  sin  casts  a  person  out  of  a  state  of  grace,  and  that 
since  there  is  no  second  Baptism  he  has  now  to  be  restored  by 
penitence  ;  that  this  penitence  must  be  proportioned  to  the  depth 
and  length  of  his  sins ;  that  he  may  be  restored  by  contrition,  but 
that  it  is  on  condition  of  continued  repentance.  If  he  ceases  his 
penitence,  his  pardon  would  cease  too.  I  do  not  mean  that  peni- 
tence need  always  be  equally  afflictive,  but  that  there  oufht  to  be 
a  continual  sorrow  for  having  offended  God.  This  would  seem 
self-evident.  Can  one  imagine  a  person,  who  in  anger  had  caused 
another's  death,  ever  feeling  as  if  he  had  not  done  it  ?  Can  one 
think  that  any  one  should  really  understand  that  he  had  defiled 
the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  that  this  could  not  be  undone;  that 
what  had  been  was ;  that  he  was  a  changed  being,  more  changed 
than  Adam  by  his  fall  in  one  respect,  in  that  he  has  fallen  from 


26  RESTORATION  THROUGH  PENITENCE. 

greater  graces ;  that  if  his  soul  was  purified,  his  body,  God's  temple, 
was  changed, — and  not  have  continual  sorrow,  until  corruption 
was  swallowed  up  by  incorruption  ? 

I  should  not,  then,  press  on  the  lower  degree  of  hope,  certainly 
not  to  the  penitent  who  must  in  every  way  be  cheered ;  but  that 
the  hope  must  be  through  a  different  course,  "  I  acknowledge  my 
transgression,  and  my  sin  is  ever  before  me."  He,  too,  may  be  at 
the  foot  of  the  Lord's  Cross  ;  he  may  wash  His  Feet  with  his 
tears,  and  have  a  sacred  joy  in  them ;  but  he  must  never  forget 
what  he  has  been.  He  may  have  a  lively,  have  any  degree  of 
hope,  which  God  may  give  him ;  but  the  more  he  loves  God,  the 
more  he  must  hate  his  former  self,  and  so  he  must  of  necessity 
be  a  continual  penitent.  If  he  were  not,  he  could  not  have  any 
real  love  for  God. 

Can  one  imagine  an  adulteress-wife  taken  under  her  husband's 
protection,  and  not  continually  full  of  shame  !  And  shall  the 
adulteress-soul,  if  it  realized  the  presence  of  God,  not  be  suffused 
with  shame  at  the  thought  of  that  Presence  ? 

With  regard  to  your  statement,  I  should  say  that  it  went  too 
far  :  "  in  the  precise  Covenant,  there  is  nothing  described  but 
pardon  upon  holiness  observed  to  the  end."  In  that  those  words, 
"  Whosesoever  sins,"  etc.,  are  a  commission  to  the  Church  towards 
her  penitent  members  ;  there  is  provision  for  restoration  from  the 
falls  in  the  Covenant.  Again,  in  our  Lord's  exhortations  to  the 
Churches  in  the  Revelation  to  repent,  I  should  think  it  the  truer 
to  say  that  there  is  comparatively  little  mention  of  sin.  Thus  (as 
I  have  implied  above)  I  should  not  say  that  the  penitent  sinner 
was  not  under  the  same  covenant,  since  the  power  of  the  keys  is 
part  of  the  commission  for  ever  given  to  the  Church.  Nor  should 
I  say  that  he  might  not  have  the  same  hope,  nor  that  he  might  not 
attain  an  eminence  of  glory  (as  neither  do  you),  as  Saint  Mary 
Magdalene  (in  a  beautiful  sermon  of  Archdeacon  Manning  for  the 
Magdalene  Asylum),  only  that  the  course  is  all  along  different. 
It  is  a  course  of  penitence ;  and  the  deeper  the  penitence,  the 
higher  the  glory.  Every  tear  is  stored  in  God's  bottle ;  so  that 
penitence  may  be  the  more  cheerful  in  that  it  is  not  only  the 


MILITARY  PRISON.  2J 

condition  of  acceptance,  through  the  Blood  of  Christ,  but,  through 
that  same  Blood,  a  means  of  glory.  At  all  events,  the  more  a 
sinner  hates  his  former  self  the  more  he  may  feel  that  he  is  in 
harmony  with  God. 

I  would  only  say  one  word  more,  that  I  believe  obdurate 
hearts  would  be  more  likely  to  be  touched  by  a  more  loving  exhi- 
bition of  penitence  ;  that  God  loved  them,  showed  His  love  by 
His  forbearance,  waited  to  be  gracious  to  them.  I  should  think 
the  great  fault  of  the  Low  Churchmen  not  the  way  in  which  they 
set  forth  the  love  of  Christ  even  to  the  unconverted,  but  that  they 
make  conversion  a  sort  of  Baptism,  which  so  effaces  sin  that  there 
is  no  need  of  further  penitence. 

If  I  can  be  of  any  further  use  to  you,  pray  tell  me  how. 

Yours  most  faithfully, 
E.  B.  Pusey. 

Feast  of  St.  Matthias,  1S45. 

In  July,  1845,  Mr.  Skinner  undertook  the  chaplaincy  of 
the  District  Military  Prison  at  Southsea  Castle,  where  he 
laboured  zealously  among  the  men  ;  and,  prompted,  as  he 
writes,  "  by  a  deep  and  earnest  sense  of  duty  to  a  class  of 
men,  the  most  neglected  yet  not  the  least  promising  in  our 
Christian  country,"  he  drew  up  for  the  Secretary  of  War 
a  deeply  interesting  statement  as  to  certain  matters  which 
hindered  his  efforts  among  them.  It  is  remarkable  that 
even  in  early  youth  he  could  write  nothing  without  taking 
his  stand  on  some  fixed  and  definite  principle,  from  which 
all  his  conclusions  were  drawn.  He  may  often  have  failed 
in  not  allowing  sufficient  force  to  circumstances  which 
might  modify  those  conclusions,  but  those  who  knew  him 
best  felt  the  sense  of  strength  and  consistency  which  his 
immovable  adherence  to  principle  imparted  to  them.  Dr. 
Pusey   once  said  of  him  (speaking  of  waverers  as  to  the 


28  LETTER   TO  MR.    GEORGE  SKINNER. 

Creed),  "  Oh,  as  to  Skinner,  he  is  like  the  man  in  Scott's 
poem  who  set  his  back  against  the  rock  and  called  out — 

1  Come  one,  come  all,  this  rock  shall  fly 
From  its  firm  base,  as  soon  as  I.'  " 

To  awaken  and  foster  penitence  is,  he  sets  forth  in  his  state- 
ment, the  main  end  and  object  of  any  prison.  "  But  at  all 
events,"  he  continues,  "  this  is  the  only  object  of  a  chaplain 
and  a  chaplain's  labour, — to  make  prisoners  Christian  peni- 
tents ;  and  it  is  only  in  proportion  as  I  make  penitents  that 
I  am  worth  anything  to  the  institution  to  which  I  belong." 
He  therefore  earnestly  pleads  for  certain  reforms  to  enable 
him  to  do  more  for  the  spiritual  good  of  the  prisoners. 
To  his  brother  George  he  wrote  : 

December  30,  1845. 

As  to  all  this  about  Dr.  Pusey,  it  may  serve  to  quiet  any  alarm 
you  may  entertain  about  myself  or  my  opinions  to  declare  at  once, 
that  the  effect  of  every  recent  apostacy  (and  most  especially  of 
Mr.  Newman's)  upon  my  own  mind  has  been  to  strengthen  and 
confirm  it  in  its  stable  and  unalterable  attachment  to  the  Church 
of  my  baptism.  I  never  had  any  scruples  about  my  position,  and 
still  less  have  I  any  now ;  nay,  rather,  I  am  more  and  more  con- 
vinced that  the  present  trials  of  the  Church  of  England  are  visita- 
tions upon  her  for  good,  the  hand  of  God  purging  her  in  order  to 
more  abundant  fruitfulness,  and  marks,  therefore,  of  love  and 
favour  rather  than  of  reprobation.  I  believe  more  than  ever  that  we 
have  with  us  the  elements  of  that  hidden  but  mighty  power  which 
shall  finally  draw  all  things  to  itself,  and  that,  while  in  no  portion  of 
Christendom  have  the  world's  evil  principles  made  fewer  inroads 
than  on  our  own,  the  Church  of  England  may  yet,  by  God's  help, 
be  the  rallying  and  centre  point,  which  shall  unite  the  universal 
Church  of  Christ  into  one. 

And  as  for  the  line  of  action  which  the  troubles  of  these  times 
demand,  my   mind   is   equally   made   up.     Not  discussion,   but 


ROME  AND  DISSENT.  2Q 

action  ;  not  pulling  other  people  down,  but  building  ourselves  up  ; 
not  argument  so  much  as  prayer,  and  not  external  ceremonies, 
but  the  culture  of  the  inward  life  and  conscience,  the  hidden  man 
of  the  heart,  which  is  at  the  root  and  source  of  all  religion.  As 
to  Rome,  our  wise  plan  is  to  leave  her  alone.  To  her  own 
master  she  will  stand  or  fall ;  and  I  cannot  see  what  concern  we 
have  with  palliating  them  on  the  one  side,  or  reviling  them  on  the 
other.  "Judge  nothing  before  the  time."  We  did  not  cast  her  off, 
so  much  as  she  cast  off  us.  The  advance  must  be  made  by  her, 
therefore,  and  when  she  comes  forward  and  concedes  the  points 
which  she  has  made  to  sever  us,  it  will  be  time  enough  for  us  to 
rise  up  and  meet  her.  Meantime,  nothing  can  be  so  senseless  as 
to  busy  ourselves  with  fears  and  alarms,  and  then  abuse  Rome, 
when  we  have  so  much  to  do  with  our  own  hearts  and  con- 
sciences, and  in  fulfilling  the  work  which,  each  in  our  own  place 
and  station,  God  hath  given  us  to  do. 

With  regard  to  Dissenters,  and  persons  within  our  own  pale 
who  are  practically  sectarians,  our  line,  as  it  seems  to  me,  is 
equally  clear.  Not  heated  controversy  and  unkind,  severe  lan- 
guage, but  kindness,  and  gentleness,  and  love ;  avoiding  all 
negations  which  only  exasperate,  but  insisting  on  positive  privi- 
leges and  blessings,  which  are  sure  to  win.  Matters  of  mere 
external  import,  such  as  surplices  and  other  ceremonies,  however 
significative  in  themselves,  will  always  do  harm  if  pressed  unduly, 
and  in  the  wrong  place ;  and  hence  all  the  senseless  and  wicked 
outcry  which  has  been  ringing  from  Exeter  to  York.  Let  them 
come  last,  not  first.  First  cultivate  Christian  graces — gentleness, 
submission,  obedience,  faith — and  strive  to  make  a  flock  earnest 
and  serious  on  right  principles,  and  then  all  that  is  Catholic  in 
ritual  and  external  worship  will  follow  naturally  :  people  will  as 
little  think  of  being  without  it,  as  of  walking  the  king's  highway 
without  their  clothes. 

With  regard  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,*  I  do  not  believe  that 
he  will  take  any  persecuting  line  against  any  party  in  the  Church, 

*  Bishop  Wilberforce. 


30  DR.  PUSEY  S  POSITION. 

and  least  of  all  against  the  friends  of  Dr.  Pusey,  who  are  in  real 
truth  his  own  fathers  and  brethren  and  best  friends.  He  is  by  far 
too  long-sighted  a  man,  and  too  well  furnished  in  the  arts  of 
governing,  not  to  see,  on  the  one  hand,  that  all  the  earnest- 
mindedness  and  genuine  activity  is  on  the  side  which  the  world  is 
hunting  down ;  and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  with  the  popular 
faction,  lie  the  elements  of  those  very  evil  spirits  which  have  once 
already  destroyed  both  discipline  and  order  in  the  Church,  and  are 
ready  to  destroy  them  again.  I  have  reason  to  know  Bishop 
Wilberforce's  real  mind,  as  well  as  any  who  are  not  his  confidential 
friends,  and  I  am  saying  no  more  than  events  will  prove  when  I 
assure  you  that  his  own  sentiments,  as  well  as  great  kindness  and 
affection  of  heart,  will  conspire  to  urge  him  to  win  and  secure 
those  very  men  whom  the  newspapers  would  desire  him  to  drive 
away.  He  has  begun  to  govern  his  diocese  on  the  catholic  model, 
and  this  is  the  best  earnest  that  he  will  go  on  to  do  so. 

With  regard  to  Dr.  Pusey,  it  is  a  mistake  utterly  to  breathe  a 
suspicion  about  his  leaving  us.  He  is  day  by  day  strengthening 
his  position  in  the  Church,  and  gathering  round  him  such  staunch 
men  as  Hook  and  Manning,  who  are  not  parties  to  give  him  their 
confidence  rashly.  I  heard  myself — for  it  was  to  myself  that  Dr. 
Pusey  said  it — that  he  was  more  strongly  than  ever  riveted  to  the 
Church  of  England  ;  and  all  that  he  is  doing  now  confirms  this 
fact.  No  one  knows  to  how  many  he  has  been,  within  the  last 
month  or  two,  the  means  of  support  and  comfort,  nor  how  many 
souls  he  has  kept  from  straying  away.  I  should  almost  as  soon 
doubt  my  own  identity,  as  Dr.  Pusey's  strong  position  in  the  Church 
of  England.  He  will  never,  however,  publish  any  condemnation  of 
Newman,  and  I  think  he  is  right ;  and  they  are  most  unreason- 
able who  require  such  an  unworthy  test  of  his  own  stability.  No 
man  more  laments  Newman's  "  fall,"  as  he  calls  it.  He  grieves 
over  it,  and  prays  for  him  ;  but  Dr.  Pusey  is  too  humble-minded  a 
man  to  force  upon  the  public  an  act  of  judicial  condemnation 
involving  his  own  Christian  charity  on  the  one  hand,  and  wrong- 
ing the  soul  of  a  fellow-Christian  on  the  other,  who  has  been 
following  the  guidance  of  his  own  conscience. 


ST.   MARY'S,   READING.  3  I 

One  of  the  unhappy  tokens  of  our  un-Christian  age  is  this  con- 
stant criminating  and  recriminating  each  other.  Let  our  own 
actions  be  the  tests  of  our  sincerity,  and  we  shall  be  nearer  the 
mark  than  by  proving  our  zeal  by  the  loudness  of  our  vituperation. 

Nothing  can  be  more  inconclusive  than  that  the  plain  require- 
ments of  the  Church  of  England  are  dangerous,  because  certain 
men  have  gone,  not  beyond,  but  beside  them,  and  landed  at 
Rome. 

On  this  principle,  one  must  abandon  daily  service,  nay,  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  itself;  for  it  is  no  more  true  that  obedience 
to  the  Church  of  England  leads  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  than  that 
the  belief  in  the  Holy  Trinity  leads  to  Romanism. 

Mr.  Skinner  had  not  undertaken  prison  work  with  any 
thought  of  its  being  more  than  temporary,  but  he  remained 
at  Southsea  about  a  year,  and  then  accepted  the  curacy  of 
St.  Mary's,  Reading,  under  the  Vicar,  the  Rev.  S.  W.  Yates. 
Here  his  work  was  entirely  of  a  missionary  character,  chiefly 
amongst  the  poorest  and  most  ignorant.  In  order  to  gain 
the  more  influence  over  them,  Mr.  Skinner  and  his  co-curate, 
the  Rev.  H.  R.  Merewether,*  lived  amongst  them  in  a 
wretched  part  of  Reading,  called  Hosier  Lane,  near  the 
National  Schools.  Close  by  they  established  a  Workman's 
Reading-Room,  where  they  spent  their  evenings  amongst 
the  poor  who  resorted  to  it. 

Forty  years  ago,  daily  services  with  frequent  and  early 
Celebrations  were  almost  unheard  of;  and  when  established 
by  Mr.  Yates  and  his  assistant  clergy,  the  so-called  "  inno- 
vations "  excited  both  astonishment  and  opposition.  The 
work,  however,  was  signally  successful,  and  the  services  were 
largely  attended,  especially  in  Lent  and  Advent,  while  in 
one  year  there  was  a  considerable  increase  of  communicants. 

*  Now  Vicar  of  Tenterden. 


32  FAILURE   OF  HEALTH. 

The  weekly  offertory  was  started  and  was  well  sup- 
ported. St.  Mary's  Church  became  notorious  for  being 
far  in  advance  of  the  times,  and  the  clergy  were  inundated 
with  letters  of  inquiry  from  all  parts  of  England  as  to 
their  doings  and  the  results.  One  of  the  first,  if  not  the 
very  first  Confirmation  held  by  Bishop  Wilberforce  was  in 
St.  Mary's  Church.  An  eye-witness  says,  "  The  Bishop's 
tact  in  managing  the  affair  was  very  striking."  For  the 
arrangements  on  such  occasions  in  those  days  were  very 
different  in  most  places  from  what  they  are  now,  and  pro- 
bably this  was  the  first  place  in  the  diocese  where  every- 
thing possible  was  done  to  maintain  order  and  reverence. 
It  was  a  novelty  that  a  procession  of  surpliced  clergy  should 
meet  the  Bishop  at  the  vicarage,  and  precede  him  thence 
through  the  west  door  of  the  church  into  the  chancel, 
where  the  candidates  were  placed  in  order,  so  as  to  be 
ready  to  go  up  to  the  Bishop  in  detachments. 

Alas !  before  long,  Mr.  Skinner's  health  again  gave  way. 
The  hard  work  of  Lent,  1846,  and  the  unhealthiness  of  the 
Hosier  Lane  abode  at  Reading,  brought  on  so  serious  a 
failure  in  strength  that  he  was  entirely  unfit  for  the  work 
of  the  district  ;  and  he  gladly  accepted  an  offer  from  the 
Rev.  G.  R.  Gleig,  Chaplain-General  to  her  Majesty's  forces, 
an  old  friend  both  of  his  father  and  of  Bishop  Skinner,  of 
the  post  of  chaplain  to  the  forces  at  Corfu. 

His  experience  of  work  among  soldiers  at  Windsor  and 
at  Southsea  made  this  offer  particularly  acceptable  to  him, 
and  there  was  this  further  advantage,  that  the  pay  seemed 
to  justify  his  hopes  and  those  of  his  betrothed  that  their 
long-delayed  marriage  might  take  place.  They  had  now 
been  engaged  for  seven  years,  separated  except  during  the 


LETTER  FROM  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.  33 

brief  happy  holidays  which  twice  a  year  he  spent  at  Middle- 
ton.  But  never  a  cloud  had  dimmed  his  enthusiastic  love 
and  bright  anticipations  of  happiness.  However,  Mr. 
Raymond  decided  that  he  must  first  go  alone  to  Corfu,  and 
prove  whether  his  health  and  the  climate  would  allow  him 
to  make  a  home  there  for  his  bride.  He  therefore  parted 
from  her  for  the  last  time  in  August,  1846,  left  England  in 
company  with  his  friend  Archdeacon  Wright,  and  arrived 
at  Corfu  early  in  September. 

Before  leaving  the  diocese  of  Oxford  he  had  asked 
Bishop  Wilberforce  to  give  him  a  "  letter  commendatory " 
to  the  Archbishop  of  Corfu.    The  Bishop  wrote  in  answer  : 

Woodhall,  August  16,  1846. 
My  dear  Sir, 

By  some  strange  accident  your  letter  has  escaped  my 
notice ;  and  now  in  much  haste  I  send  off  what  you  have  desired. 
Should  you  not  have  left  England  already,  I  would  wish  you 
to  call  on  me  at  61,  Eaton  Place,  that  you  may  not  go  forth  with- 
out your  Bishop's  express  blessing. 

Praying  that  God  may  have  you  alway  in  His  holy  keeping, 

I  am  ever,  most  sincerely  yours, 

S.  Oxon. 
The  Rev.  J.  Skinner. 

To  Bishop  Wilberforce's  letter  commendatory  the 
following  answer  was  sent : — 

To  the  Most  Reverend  Lord  Bishop  of  Oxford,  etc. 

Athanasius,  the  Protosyngelos  *  and  Vicar  of  Corfu,  to  the  Most 

Reverend  Samuel,  Bishop  of  Oxford. 

The  Metropolitan  of  Corfu  not  having  been  able,  on  account 
of  the  severe  sickness  with  which  he  has  been  up  to  the  present 

*  The  chief  monk  of  a  set  of  monks  who  live  with  the  Bishop  or  Arch- 
bishop, and  testify  as  to  his  life. 

D 


34  LETTER  FROM  THE  PROTOSYNGELOS. 

moment  troubled,  to  answer  the  letter  from  your  Reverence, 
dated  in  the  month  of  August  last,  it  appears  to  me,  as  en- 
trusted with  the  direction  of  the  Church  in  this  island,  that  I 
should  send  an  answer  and  say  that  we  have  with  brotherly  love 
received  the  Reverend  James  Skinner  commended  to  us  by  your 
Reverence ;  and  that  we  respect  and  love  him  as  a  Priest  of  the 
Most  High  God ;  and  we  shall  not  cease  to  love  him,  inasmuch 
as  he  is  given  to  all  that  is  right  and  good,  and  shows  himself  by 
his  life  to  be  worthy  of  his  priestly  office. 

I  pray  the  most  merciful  God  to  guard  and  protect  your 
Reverence,  to  give  you  health  with  long  life,  and  to  grant  you  His 
direct  blessings. 

Corfu,  March  8,  1S47,  O.S. 

[Original  Letter  of  the  Protosy?tgeIosi\ 

Tw  ^e^acrjJLLOiTaTU)  TLvptio   'E7rto-/<o7ra)  'O^ovlov,   k.t.X.,  k.t.X. 

'AOavacTLos  UpwToavyKeWos  /cat  To7roTr)pr)Tr)<s  Kep/cvpas  t<3 
2e/5acr/xta)TaTa)  ^aLiovrjX  'E/acrKoVci)   O^oviov. 

Xaipeiv  Iv  Kvpiw, 

Mr)  SvvrjOevTOS  tov  M^Tpo7roXtrou  Kep/cupas,  eveKa  tt}s  ^XP1 
rovSe  Kare-^ovarjs  olvtov  oeivfjs  vocrov,  aTravTrjo~ai  t(3  Iv  /xrjvl  Avyovaro) 
TrapeXrjXvOoTi  irapa.  rrjs  crrjs  2ey8acr/xtoT^T05  iTrioTaXivTi  ypa/xpari, 
eSo^e  p.01  c7riTerpap,p,ej/a)  rrjv  SuvOvvctlv  Trj<s  'EK/oV^crias  rrjs  vrjcrov 
ravTiys  avTeirto-T ecXat  ravrrjv  ttjv  iirurToXyv  koj,  d7ra.yyetA.at  otl  tov 
Trapa  ttjs  cryjs  ^efSao-paoTrjTOS  ava-raOevTa  AiSeaipcov  Iolku)/3ov  ^/aWep, 
<fuXa$eXcf}(DS  V7re$€t;a/Ae6a,  /cat  ws  tepea  tov  ©eou  tov  'YxJ/lo-tov  o~e/36- 
p,€0a  koI  dya7ra>p,ej/,  /cat  aya.7ru)VT€<s  ov  7rauo~op.€#a,  are  Srj  ovTa 
KaXoKo<ya6ias   7rao-r)s  aj/a/xerpov,  /cat  actios  tov  ItpaTiKov   xapaKTrjpos 

7roXiT€VOpL€VOV. 

Aeop,at  tov  UoXveXeov  ®eov  O7roo?  Sta^vXaTTT]  /cat  7repta k^tttj  ttjv 
crrjv  %€f3ao~ixLOTr)Ta  vyeia  iv  p.a/cpo/Jto'n/Ti  /cat  eVtrev^at  rcov  tvOewv 
KaTaOv/xaov. 

'Ev  Kepuvpa  Trj  7'  MapTta,  aco/jf  e.  ir. 


CHAPTER    III. 

•   LIFE   AT   CORFU. 
1846-1848. 

"  Stern  Albania's  hills, 
Dark  Suli's  rocks,  and  Pindus'  inland  peak, 
Robed  half  in  mist,  bedew'd  with  snowy  rills, 
Array'd  in  many  a  dun  and  purple  streak." 

The  situation  of  my  house  is  exquisitely  beautiful  (Mr.  Skinner 
wrote  from  Corfu  in  September,  1846).  The  sea,  of  a  blue  sur- 
passing the  imagination — like  ultramarine — is  like  a  mirror  on  all 
sides, — locked  up  like  a  lake  within  the  magnificent  mountains  of 
Albania  on  the  one  side,  and  of  the  island  on  the  other ;  and 
reflecting,  in  the  light  of  the  sun,  countless  tints  of  the  greatest 
and  most  various  beauty.  Above  rises  the  glorious  citadel,  com- 
manding a  magnificent  view  of  the  Adriatic  and  the  Mediterranean, 
the  shores  of  Italy,  and  ancient  Epirus,  with  the  Isles  of  Greece ; 
and  below,  at  a  distance  of  less  than  a  mile,  is  the  island  of  Vido ; 
and  on  all  sides  sloping  banks  and  valleys  and  groves,  thick  with 
olive  trees,  vines,  Indian  corn,  and  a  profusion  of  the  sweetest 
flowers. 

The  city  itself  is  dirty,  and  in  many  streets  and  lanes  dis- 
gusting :  but  yet  it  is  very  interesting  to  see  the  crowds  of  variously 
dressed  peasants. 


36  RELIGION  AT  CORFU. 

September  18,  1846. 

I  was  up  at  seven.  At  eight  I  got  into  the  boat,  which  in  ten 
minutes  brought  me  across  to  Vido. 

I  had  service  in  the  Fort — the  men  attentive  and  devout. 
After  service  I  went  to  Captain  Domville's  cottage,  who  received 
me  kindly  and  gave  me  a  capital  breakfast. 

The  boat  came  round  for  me  directly  after  breakfast,  and  I 
returned  to  Corfu.  I  had  just  time  to  cool  and  refresh  myself, 
and  to  rest  half  an  hour,  and  then  I  was  off  to  the  place  where 
the  garrison  attend  service,  until  the  church  (which  is  only  just 
above  ground)  is  finished — a  large  Greek  schoolroom  very  low  in 
the  roof,  and  piping  hot,  crammed  with  people  up  to  the  ceiling. 
In  this  place,  I  grieve  to  say,  all  sorts  of  sectarians  are  allowed  to 
hold  forth  in  the  evening,  so  that  from  the  very  pulpit  which  I 
occupy  in  the  morning  American  Socinians,  Scotch  Presbyterians, 
English  Methodists,  and  sometimes  pious  devout  sergeants,  teach 
their  respective  heresies  at  night.  It  is  truly  an  awfully  low  state 
to  which  the  Church  of  England  has  been  reduced  here.  She 
has  been  exhibited  in  an  exclusive  Protestant  and  anti-Catholic 
dress  ;  and,  as  such,  hated  and  suspected  by  the  Christians  of  the 
ancient  Church  of  the  country.  It  might  have  been  far  otherwise. 
The  heads  of  the  Greek  Church  are  well  disposed  to  us — far 
better  than  to  Rome — but  we  have  not  been  true  to  ourselves, 
and  have  not  only  not  cared  to  assert  our  place  among  the  Catholic 
Churches  of  Christendom,  but  have  done  overt  acts,  as  if  we  took 
pains  to  identify  ourselves  with  all  the  sectarian  and  schismatical 
rebels  of  Europe.  Only  think  ;  The  Government  hold  communi- 
cation with  the  heads  of  the  Greek  Church  here,  through  the 
channels  of  an  independent  missionary,  come  out  to  convert  them, 
and  actually  went  the  length  of  appointing  this  very  man  (the 
agent  of  the  Bible  Society)  the  Government  Inspector  of  Schools  ! 

October  10,  1846. 

...   I    anticipated   nothing   but    C 's    disapprobation,   of 

course,  in  the  step  I  have  taken  in  coming  out  here  ;  nor  can  I 
but  agree  with  him  in  the  main.     I  did  not  choose  it,  nor  would 


CRUISE  IN  THE   "  TYNE."  37 

I  choose  it  now ;  but,  it  having  fallen  on  me  as  on  one  who  had 
no  alternative,  it  is  a  charge  assuredly  of  which  I  am  not  worthy, 
but  which  is  most  worthy  of  me,  or  indeed  of  the  highest  in  the 
kingdom  of  Christ. 

And  this  is  true,  whatever  else  may  be  said ;  whether  we 
regard  the  numbers,  and  the  education,  and  the  habits  and  prin- 
ciples of  so  large  a  class  of  the  very  flower  of  England  as  the 
British  army  on  the  one  hand,  or,  on  the  other,  the  carelessness 
and  neglect  and  cruelty  and  utterly  heathenish  manner  in  which 
they  have  been  treated  by  the  so-called  Christian  Government 
which  employs  them. 

This  is  my  answer,  then,  to  all  objections  which  are  raised 
now. 

Corfu,  October  17,  1846. 

....  The  chief  cause  of  the  delay  of  this  letter  has  been 
my  absence  from  home.  Strange,  I  dare  say,  it  may  seem  to  you, 
that  I  should  be  away  from  home  in  a  country  where  I  can  have 
no  one  to  go  to  !  but  it  is  truth,  and  from  Monday  to  Thursday 
evening  I  have  been  out  visiting.  Staying,  too,  in  the  house  of  a 
friend,  and  yet  on  the  constant  move !  In  plain  English,  the 
Meteor  war  steamer  on  this  station  was  ordered  down  among  the 
islands  to  pick  up  a  large  party  of  the  Tyne  who  have  been  out  in 
boats  for  ten  days  past,  keeping  the  pirates  of  the  Mediterranean 
quiet  on  the  coast  of  Greece,  and  the  officer  commanding  was 
kind  enough  to  invite  me  to  accompany  him,  and  enjoy  the  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  a  little  of  the  country.  It  so  happened  that  the 
chaplain  of  the  Tyne  was  on  shore,  and  could  take  any  duty  that 
might  occur,  and,  besides,  the  cruise  would  be  limited  within  the 
week  and  obviate  the  necessity  of  my  being  out  on  a  Sunday — an 
occurrence  which  might  not  again  recur  as  long  as  I  remained  out 
here ;  and  therefore  I  closed  at  once  with  my  friend's  offer,  and 
enjoyed  it  exceedingly. 

...  It  was  a  beautiful  evening  when  we  left  the  magnificent 
basin  of  Corfu  with  its  rocky  sides,  and  the  sea  was  like  a  mill- 
pond  with  its  ultramarine  blue,  as  bright  as  a  jewel,  and  every- 


38  ITHACA. 

thing  promised  well.  Take  a  large  map  and  follow  me.  The 
beautiful  bay  of  Kastrades,  with  Ulysses'  Rock  (said  to  be  the 
ship  which,  conveying  him  hither,  was  changed  into  a  rock), 
Seftimo,  and  Cape  Bianco,  passed  in  quick  succession,  while  the 
mountains  (on  the  other  side)  of  Albania — the  ancient  Epirus,  and 
now  belonging  to  the  Turks,  and  part  of  Turkey  in  Europe — re- 
flected all  manner  of  exquisite  tints  in  the  setting  sun.  Soon 
appeared  Parga  on  the  Turkish  coast,  and  the  islands  of  Paxo 
and  Anti-Paxo,  very  faint  of  course,  as  twilight  endures  but  for  a 
moment  in  this  country,  and  unless  it  be  the  season  of  the  moon 
it  is  dark  as  pitch  immediately.  I  just  saw  where  we  were,  and 
went  below  satisfied.  The  fine  weather  with  which  we  started 
continued  all  night,  and  but  for  the  closeness  of  the  vessel  and 
the  vibratory  motion  of  the  steam  engine,  I  might  have  fancied 
myself  at  home.  Next  morning  I  woke  at  half-past  five,  and 
found  the  vessel  stationary.  I  rubbed  my  eyes  and  jumped  up, 
and,  peeping  through  the  port-hole,  just  discerned  in  the  east  one 
mass  of  burnished  gold  gleaming  upon  a  glorious  mountain  which 
appeared  before  me.  I  was  on  deck  in  an  instant,  and  on  ascend- 
ing the  companion  ladder  met  the  captain's  servant,  who  was  on 
his  way  to  call  me  to  get  up  and  see  the  entrance  to  the  harbour 
of  Ithaca.  The  scene  on  reaching  deck  beggars  all  description. 
There  surrounded  me  on  one  side  the  precipitous  rocks  of  Ithaca, 
with  water  up  to  the  very  edge,  in  which  we  could  find  no  sound- 
ings— presenting  all  imaginable  varieties  of  strata  of  rock  and 
colours  of  vegetable  matter  upon  their  surface ;  on  the  other,  the 
picturesque  Santa  Maura,  with  its  huge  Monte  Vonno,  encircled 
with  a  host  of  other  islands,  Kalamos,  Meganisi,  Atokos,  etc.,  and 
before  me  to  the  eastward,  with  the  sun  rising  on  their  summits, 
the  lofty  mountains  of  Acarnania  and  the  Peloponnesus. 

I  was  not  sorry  to  find  myself  safe  in  the  snug  harbour  of 
Bathi,  the  chief  town  of  Ithaca — the  veriest  little  den  (entirely 
shut  in  by  rocks  and  mountains)  you  can  conceive.  The  name 
is  derived  from  the  Greek  word  which  signifies  "depths,"  and  is 
so  called  from  there  being  no  soundings  in  the  harbour. 

Breakfast  being  over,  Captain  Butler  and  I  prepared  to  go 


PALACE   OF  ULYSSES.  39 

ashore  to  pay  our  respects  to  the  resident.  He  received  us  most 
kindly,  and  told  us  we  might  expect  the  gunboats  in  search  of 
pirates  in  the  bay  of  Bathi  that  very  day,  or  the  next,  so  that  we 
had  better  not  remove  from  Ithaca,  but  keep  where  we  were  till 
they  should  come  up.  To  this  we  assented,  and  also  to  his  kind 
wish  to  see  us  at  dinner  at  half-past  six  o'clock.  Meantime  he 
proposed  a  reconnoitre  of  the  island,  and  suggested  one  or  two 
places  within  reach  for  our  inspection — the  Fountain  of  Arethusa,  or 
the  School  of  Homer,  or  the  Palace  of  Ulysses.  This  last  being 
on  the  whole  nearest,  and  not  the  least  interesting,  we  procured 
horses  and  rode  as  far  as  they  could  carry  us,  and  then  we  began 
a  steep  ascent  of  more  than  two  miles ;  at  the  direct  termination 
of  which,  on  the  summit  of  Mount  Aito,  this  royal  personage  had 
his  castle.  Nothing  but  one  or  two  ancient  walls  remained  to 
mark  it,  and  the  chief  attraction,  beyond  the  imaginary  one,  is  the 
magnificent  view  from  the  height,  comprising  the  Mediterranean 
down  to  the  Morea,  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago,  and  the 
Adriatic  up  to — I  cannot  tell  what  part  of  the  Turkish  coast. 
Immediately  below  (the  sea  running  with  tremendous  force  in  a 
breadth  of  seven  miles  between)  lies  the  island  of  Cephalonia,  in  a 
little  village  of  which,  called  Samos,  it  is  said  that  thirty-four  of 
Penelope's  suitors  took  lodgings  !  I  concluded  they  must  have 
been  desperately  in  love  to  have  undertaken  such  a  ferry,  and 
then  have  blown  themselves  with  such  a  hill.  For  the  latter  I 
can  speak,  it  would  be  a  very  rare  temptation  which  would  induce 
me  to  essay  it  again.  And  yet  it  was  most  beautiful ;  every  rock 
was  covered  with  flowers.  I  literally  waded  among  myrtles,  and 
every  now  and  then  refreshed  my  mouth  with  the  arbutus  fruit, 
which  was  ripe  and  in  great  perfection.  After  we  had  descended, 
we  found  the  Greek  guides,  with  our  horses,  waiting  for  us  at  the 
bottom,  and  we  returned  to  Bathi. 

It  was  quite  early  when  we  reached  the  town ;  we  therefore 
rode  out  in  another  direction,  up  a  most  beautiful  valley,  and,  at 
my  request,  stopped  to  call  upon  the  Bishop  of  Ithaca.  I  went 
in  and  announced  myself  as  a  priest  of  the  Catholic  Church  of 
England,  and  was  most  cordially  received  by  an  aged,  patriarchal 


40  BISHOP   OF  ITHACA. 

prelate,  upwards  of  eighty,  with  his  robes  on,  and  a  grey  beard, 
as  white  as  snow,  flowing  down  to  his  waist.  He  seemed  much 
gratified  by  my  visit,  and  said  as  much.  I  had  an  interpreter,  of 
course,  for  although  I  can  already  understand  most  of  what  is 
said  in  modern  Greek,  I  cannot  yet  converse  in  it.  He  offered 
me  wine  and  fruit,  both  of  which  I  declined.  I  left  the  old  man 
highly  pleased  and  convinced  that  he  is  a  Bishop,  as  a  Bishop 
should  be — living  frugally,  seeing  all  classes,  and  being  seen  by 
them,  walking  about  his  diocese,  and  in  constant  communication 
with  every  one  who  comes  under  his  episcopal  control.  .  .  . 

Major  Scargill  even  remarked  to  me,  "  Ah  !  I  never  see  that 
old  man  without  identifying  him  with  what  Bishops  once  were, 
and  ought  to  be  again." 

Next  morning  it  was  raining  and  very  disagreeable,  so  we 
could  make  no  excursion,  but  at  four  o'clock  we  had  a  dinner- 
party on  board,  consisting  of  Captain  Butler,  his  son,  the  resi- 
dent, and  two  officers  of  the  Tyne,  who  had  by  this  time  returned 
from  their  cruise  and  were  all  hands  on  board  of  us,  and  ready  to 
return  to  Corfu  as  soon  as  we  were  inclined.  It  was  very  inte- 
resting to  me  to  see  the  boats  return  from  their  expedition.  The 
men,  including  ten  officers,  were  about  forty-five,  who  had  been 
knocking  about  day  and  night  in  open  boats  for  ten  days  past, 
among  the  bays  and  harbours  of  the  Turkish  and  Greek  coasts, 
but  without  success.  I  was  present  at  the  unloading  of  the  boats, 
and  you  never  witnessed  such  a  scene.  The  merry  laugh  of  the 
Jack  Tar  inquiring  "What  news?"  the  cheer  of  joy  and  the 
dance  of  delight  on  hearing  that  they  were  "  homeward  bound  " — 
this  from  the  married  men  ;  but  the  sigh  of  regret  from  others, 
that  their  merry  cruise  was  over.  Then  the  mixture  of  things — 
pots  and  kettles,  with  cutlasses  and  salt  beef;  empty  bottles  and 
broken  plates,  with  boots  and  shoes ;  casks  of  water,  with  rifles 
and  bayonets ;  pork  and  pistols ;  carpenter's  tools  and  gridirons 
and  saucepans  ;  old  leather  and  ship's  biscuits  ;  books  and  salt 
butter  !  Such  a  medley  I  never  saw,  and  never  laughed  so  much 
at  seeing.  We  had  a  pleasant  party  at  dinner,  and  the  naval  and 
military  men  amused  me  with  their  tales  of  many  a  battle  and  a 


RETURN  TO   CORFU,  4 1 

bloody  fray  in  which  they  had  borne  part.  Major  Scargill  spoke 
of  the  siege  of  St  Sebastian,  at  which  he  was  present,  and  Captain 
Butler  of  the  ill-fated  battle  of  New  Orleans  and  other  scenes  of 
the  American  war  in  which  he  had  taken  part,  whilst  the  younger 
men  of  the  party  confined  themselves  to  their  humbler,  but  scarcely 
less  interesting,  rencontres  with  privateers  or  slavers.  Towards  ten 
o'clock,  the  sounds  of  music  summoned  us  on  deck,  and  there,  to 
my  great  delight  and  the  tender  reminiscence  of  dear  old  England, 
we  found  the  sailors  sitting  round  on  the  main  deck,  playing  at 
"  a  song,  a  cobbing,  or  a  pint  of  salt  water  !  "  Almost  all  sang, 
and  some  with  most  excellent  voices,  giving  with  great  spirit  and 
taste  many  of  our  best  old  sea-songs. 

We  were  off  next  morning  at  two  o'clock,  but  had  not  long 
made  the  open  sea,  when  a  heavy  gale  of  wind  set  in,  and  the 
ship  rolled  fearfully.  I  slept  soundly,  however,  in  the  midst  of  it 
all,  though  when  I  awoke  about  six  and  tried  to  get  up,  I  found  it 
impossible  to  stand ;  so  I  went  to  bed  again  and  remained  there 
until  twelve  o'clock  in  the  day,  when  we  had  just  cleared  Prevesa 
and  the  Gulf  of  Arta.  It  now  became  smoother  water,  as  the 
headland  of  Corfu  protected  us  from  the  south-west,  from  which 
the  wind  was  blowing  furiously,  and  at  about  three  o'clock  I  was 
not  sorry  to  find  myself  once  more  safe  and  sound  in  Corfu. 

November  22,  1846. 
.  .  .  The  country  is  now  in  great  beauty :  the  picturesque 
peasants  are  gathering  in  their  olives,  and  you  may  see  hundreds 
of  women  and  children,  in  their  national  costume,  lying  under  the 
trees  in  the  groves  picking  up  the  fruit  after  it  has  fallen,  the  only 
way  in  which  they  can  obtain  it.  Then  the  orange  groves  are 
now  one  glow  of  bright  golden  fruit  among  the  greenest  leaves. 
Lemons,  citrons,  and  these  kindred  fruits  are  now  ripening ;  and 
so  numerous  are  they,  that  one  passes  by  without  either  wondering 
or  coveting  !  Indeed,  you  may  help  yourself,  if  you  please,  and 
no  one  will  challenge  you.  I  have  by  this  time  seen  most  of 
the  country,  although  years  will  not  suffice  to  see  it  as  it  should 
be  seen.     Through  the  interminable  groves  and  passes  and  sweet 


42  NEW  YEAR'S  DAY. 

valleys  I  have  ridden  a  great  deal  and  great  distances,  and 
sometimes  have  seemed  to  lose  my  breath  as  some  of  the 
grander  views  have  opened  upon  me.  I  am  taking  every  step  to 
lay  in  a  stock  of  health  and  strength  for  the  summer.  This  may 
sound  strange,  but  here  that  is  the  trying  time,  and  very  few 
escape  fever.  The  heat  here  is  beyond  anything,  and  I  am  told 
that  a  few  years  of  it  enervates  the  constitution  far  more  than  the 
extremest  heat  of  India.  This,  however,  does  not  usually  last 
more  than  three  months,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  year,  except  one 
month  of  rain,  is  delicious  ;  and  what  is  also  an  advantage,  when 
the  rainy  season  does  come,  it  never  so  rains  on  any  day  but  you 
may  have  your  two  hours'  fair  and  dry  walk. 

January  6,  1 847. 

I  am  gloriously  well.  Everybody  is  liable  more  or  less  just 
now  to  catch  cold,  but  I  have  quite  escaped,  and  I  attribute  it 
mainly  to  my  regular  habit  of  sea-bathing,  which  to  this  6th  day 
of  January  I  have  never  omitted.  We  are  still  in  the  midst  of  our 
Christmas  festivities.  The  Greek  Church  keep  the  old  style,  so 
that  this  very  day  is  their  Christmas  Day.  The  Latin  Church  also 
conform,  and  I  regret  on  many  accounts  that  we  do  not  follow 
the  example,  and  when  "  we  are  in  Greece,  do  as  Greece  does." 
I  must  return  my  calls  to-day  on  the  dignitaries  of  the  Church  who 
honoured  me  on  my  Christmas  Day.  It  is  a  delightful  custom, 
that  which  they  retain  here,  of  paying  gratulatory  visits  on  all  the 
great  festivals,  and  on  the  commemoration  of  each  other's  patron 
saint. 

On  New  Year's  Day  we  had  a  levee  at  the  palace,  being  the 
anniversary  of  the  Ionian  Constitution.  All  the  officials  and 
heads  of  departments  were  there  in  their  full  costume — myself 
among  others.  The  Latin  Bishop  was  there  in  his  magnificent 
robes,  glowing  with  scarlet.  The  aged  Patriarch  of  Santa  Maura, 
to  whom  I  was  introduced,  seemed  struck  with  the  similarity  of 
my  gown  to  his  own,  and,  shaking  me  by  the  hand,  remarked  how 
very  much  more  "respectable"  I  was  "  than  that  there"  Latin  Bishop 
— "piu  rispettabile  che  quello  ll"  pointing  at  him  with  undisguised 


UNIVERSITY  AT  CORFU.  43 

contempt.  The  Greeks  have  an  utter  horror  of  the  Roman 
Catholics,  amounting  almost  to  the  feeling  which  they  bear  the 
Jews,  whom  it  is  lawful  to  shoot  during  Passion  Week  !  However, 
this  same  Roman  Bishop  (who,  strange  to  say,  is  an  Irishman) 
is  more  than  a  match  for  these  fine  old  greybearded  prelates. 
He  knows  more  by  his  little  finger,  than  they  do  by  the  experience 
of  a  lifetime,  and  being  shrewd  and  cautious,  he  steals  his  march 
upon  them  with  great  skill.  He  and  I  are  very  good  friends,  and 
I  am  going  to  dine  with  him  to-morrow,  to  discuss  some  matters 
of  common  interest  in  garrison  affairs.  A  very  considerable  pro- 
portion of  the  soldiers  are  Roman  Catholics ;  and  I  am  anxious 
that  something  should  be  done,  to  give  these  poor  fellows  more 
consideration  than  in  past  years.  Besides  this,  I  hope  to  get  some 
information  out  of  him  as  to  tactics  at  Rome,  from  which  he  has 
very  recently  returned.  Lord  Seaton  has  paid  me  a  compliment 
in  taking  me  into  his  confidence  in  the  rearrangement  of  the 
University  here,  and  I  am  at  present  sitting  on  a  committee  of 
inquiry  into  the  administration  of  that  institution,  for  the  last  ten 
years  under  a  Dr.  Orioli  from  Bologna  (an  Italian),  who  is  about 
to  leave  it.  It  adds  greatly  to  my  work,  but  is  very  interesting 
from  the  insight  which  it  gives  into  the  system  of  foreign  educa- 
tion generally,  and  of  these  islands  in  particular.  Nothing  can 
be  more  wretched.  There  is  not  a  student  in  the  institution  who 
can  write  an  original  exercise  in  any  one  of  the  languages,  ancient 
or  modern,  which  are  taught !  Everything  is  done  for  show — there 
is  no  substance ;  and  as  for  religion,  there  is  practically  no  such 
thing  taught.  In  point  of  fact,  the  pupils  may  be  anything  or 
nothing.  And  what  is  the  result  of  this  ?  There  are  not  a  dozen 
priests  in  the  Ionian  Church  who  can  read  and  write,  and  not 
more  than  half  that  number  who  can  give  any  account  of  their 
creed.  The  condition  of  the  modern  Greek  Church  is  one  of 
absolute  vacuity :  they  have  a  form  of  worship  which  is  not  wor- 
ship, but  consists  in  the  mere  "  -Kpo<jyyvy}<Ti<z"  or  reverential  obeis- 
ance to  the  saints ;  among  the  masses,  there  is  not  even  the 
pretence  of  "  Xarpem,"  or  the  worship  (properly  so  called)  of  God. 
We  are  purposing  great  things,  and  Ave  have  already  recommended 


44  ILLNESS. 

a  complete  clearance  in  the  University,  and  the  adoption  of  a  dis- 
tinct system  on  the  Anglican  model.  We  have  recommended 
also  an  application  to  Oxford,  and  have  succeeded  in  getting 
some  first-rate  men  to  apply  for  the  orifice  of  Director. 

June  14,  1847. 

I  had  a  class  of  women  to-day  at  twelve  to  be  examined  for 
confirmation,  eight  or  nine,  and  much  satisfaction  I  had  in  them. 
Thank  God  for  this  !  I  hope  to  make  these  wives  of  the  men 
very  useful  in  helping  me  to  soften  and  Christianize  the  soldier. 
They  seemed  impressed  by  my  words,  and  one  woman  particularly 
answered  every  question  I  asked  her,  and  proved  that  she  had  not 
forgotten  her  Catechism,  which  she  seemed  to  have  learnt  well.  On 
leaving,  she  said,  "  God  bless  you,  sir,  for  all  your  kind  advice." 

In  the  evening  the  palace  servants  came  for  instruction  and 
examination,  and  afterwards  I  walked  up  to  the  chapel  room  and 
gave  an  hour's  public  lecture  to  all  the  candidates. 

Their  attention  and  devotion  greatly  rejoiced  me,  and  I  felt 
much  encouraged.  My  numbers  have  now  swollen  to  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  candidates,  and  it  is  becoming  quite  a  revival  among 
the  regiments.  A  good  many  non-commissioned  officers  have 
attended  classes ;  and  I  am  more  thankful  for  this,  for  I  feel  that 
they  influence  the  men  under  their  command.  Besides  public 
instruction,  I  am  making  a  point  of  seeing  each  one  separately. 
O,  what  a  glorious  band  of  communicants  may  I  not  hope,  through 
God's  blessing,  to  raise  out  of  this  !  I  want  to  prove  to  the  world 
that  soldiers  are  not  the  degraded  beings  which  some  are  apt  to 
count  them,  but  that  among  this  unequalled  body  of  the  youth  and 
flower  of  our  country,  there  may  be  trained  up  a  strong  band  of 
good  Christian  Churchmen. 

The  intense  heat  brought  on  an  acute  illness,  but  in 
June  he  writes  : — 

You  need  no  longer  be  anxious  on  my  behalf.  My  strength  is 
daily  returning  ;  the  doctor  to-day  pronounced  me  going  on  well 
towards  recovery,  and  brought  me  an  invitation  from  Sir  J.  R.  to 
go  out  yachting  with  him.     The  morning  was  so  lovely  that  never 


WORK  WITH  SOLDIERS.  45 

did  I  feel  more  reluctance  in  saying,  "  No — duty  before  pleasure ;  I 
have  too  much  to  do  ! "  I  then  went  off  to  the  palace,  and  sat 
half  an  hour  with  Lord  Seaton,  arranging  to  go  and  receive  the 
Bishop,  and  also  requesting  that  the  whole  garrison  might  be 
ordered  to  church  to  witness  the  Confirmation  and  hear  the  Bishop's 
address. 

Lord  Seaton  was  most  kind  and  cordial,  and  gave  me  every 
possible  help  and  encouragement. 

From  the  palace  I  walked  to  the  citadel,  and  assembled  round 
me  all  the  non-commissioned  officers  of  the  16th  Regiment.  This 
was  the  only  regiment  in  which  no  non-commissioned  officers 
had  presented  themselves  as  candidates.  I  made  them  a  speech, 
and  charged  them  with  the  shamefacedness  of  such  a  fact,  en- 
larging upon  their  responsibilities  and  the  awfulness  of  their  neg- 
lecting and  setting  aside  this  opportunity  of  bringing  a  blessing 
upon  themselves  and  others. 

Every  non-commissioned  officer  who  had  not  already  been 
confirmed  came  forward  and  entered  his  name. 

When  I  got  back  to  my  house  it  was  past  seven,  and  I  found 
a  large  party  of  artillerymen  and  sappers  and  miners,  who  had 
come  to  be  examined  and  instructed.  I  was  too  glad  to  see  them 
to  send  them  away. 

June  18. — This  morning  I  woke  full  of  anxiety  and  excitement, 
expecting  the  Bishop,  expecting  a  considerable  allowance  of  work, 
and  expecting  letters,  the  mail  being  due  to-day.  It  was  a  bright 
delicious  morning.  I  had  barely  finished  with  my  pupil,  and  had 
interviews  with  one  or  two  candidates  for  Confirmation,  when  the 
steamer  was  signalled  from  the  citadel. 

To  my  bitter  disappointment  there  was  no  Bishop !  I  felt 
sadly  put  out !  I  was  all  ready  for  him,  and  had  been  hurried  by 
him  considerably — and  after  all,  not  to  come  !  I  could  have 
cried  !  We  pulled  away  from  the  steamer,  and  returned  to  Lord 
Seaton  to  announce  our  bad  luck.  He  was  almost  as  much  dis- 
appointed as  I.  .  .  .  When  the  letters  were  delivered  in  the  even- 
ing, a  note  from  the  Bishop  informed  me  that  the  illness  of  his 
sister  had  detained  him  at  Malta. 


46  CONFIRMATION  IN   GARRISON. 

July  12,  1847. 

I  have  just  heard  that  I  must  be  in  readiness  to  start  to-morrow 
morning  at  six  o'clock  for  Cephalonia  and  Zante  with  the  Bishop  of 
Gibraltar,  who  has  brought  no  chaplain  with  him.  I  am  com- 
pletely knocked  up  ;  and  no  boy  ever  hailed  a  week's  holiday  with 
more  joy  and  satisfaction  than  I  do. 

The  Bishop  says  he  never  had  such  a  Confirmation.  There 
was  one  burst  of  response  from  all  the  men  during  the  Litany, 
which  went  to  my  heart  and  brought  up  tears.  That  service  being 
ended,  all  stood  up  with  their  hands  in  front. 

I  then  read  the  preface,  which  was  followed  by  the  Bishop's 
address.  Then  came  the  remainder  of  the  service — the  men 
responding  nobly.  And  then  the  Bishop  proceeded  to  lay  his  hands 
on,  and  to  bless  every  person  individually  ;  which  was  very  striking 
— and  the  more  that  every  one  of  my  fine  fellows  said  Amen 
aloud  to  each  other's  blessing.  All  was  over  about  7.30.  I  never 
in  my  life  witnessed  a  Confirmation  so  affecting;  if  the  Bishop 
of  Oxford,  instead  of  the  Bishop  of  Gibraltar,  had  been  administer- 
ing, what  an  effect  it  would  have  had  ! 

There  were  a  hundred  and  ninety-three  candidates,  and  on 
Sunday  last  I  admitted  to  the  Holy  Communion  a  hundred  and 
thirty  whom  I  had  prepared ;  the  great  body  of  whom  I  hope  to 
bring  up  monthly  to  that  holy  ordinance. 

Although  knocked  up,  I  am,  thank  God,  much  better  in 
health.  I  am  now  broiling  while  I  write,  and  with  the  greatest 
difficulty — with  the  thermometer  at  8o°  odd  (and  at  night  too)- 
I  long  to  get  away,  and  shall  start  at  six  to-morrow  morning,  and 
shall  have  a  delicious  sail  down  the  coast  of  Epirus,  through  the 
islands,  and  on  to  Zante,  coasting  the  Peloponnesus — in  all,  about 
a  hundred  and  forty  miles. 

August  18,  1S47. 

God  is  blessing  me,  all  unworthy  as  I  am  ! 

Last  Sunday,  at  the  ordinary  monthly  Communion,  there  were 
upwards  of  eighty  communicants,  sixty  of  whom  were  soldiers. 
Formerly,  at  no  Communion  throughout  the  year  did  the  number 
of  soldiers  reach  six. 


ADDRESS    TO  SOLDIERS.  47 

May  God  grant  us  all  perseverance,  and,  above  all,  may  He 
grant  that,  having  preached  to  others,  I  myself  may  not  be  cast  away ! 

Mr.  Skinner  must  have  been  a  very  congenial  chaplain 
to  soldiers,  because  he  had  so  much  of  a  soldier  spirit 
himself.  There  was  no  mistaking  his  meaning,  and  he 
never  shirked  walking  straight  up  to  the  enemy's  guns. 
An  address  of  his  to  the  soldiers  on  Confirmation  was 
printed  at  the  Government  Press  at  Corfu  in  1847,  and  one 
sentence  of  it  is  very  characteristic  : 

All  of  you  who  are  communicants  without  having  been  con- 
firmed, must,  of  course,  present  yourselves  as  candidates.  I  could 
not  have  admitted  you  to  Communion  on  any  other  condition. 
You  must  either  have  been  already  confirmed  or  be  desirous  of 
it.     Your  opportunity  has  arrived,  and  I  shall  expect  you  ! 

The  men  felt  they  had  to  do  with  a  strong  man,  and 
respected  him  accordingly ;  they  knew  there  would  be  no 
weak  admittance  to  the  Holy  Communion  of  those  who 
refused  to  comply  with  the  conditions  of  admittance  laid 
down  in  their  chaplain's  "order-book."  With  him,  the 
trumpet  never  gave  an  uncertain  sound. 

The  Chaplain-General  to  the  Forces  seems  to  have 
taken  the  same  view  of  his  character.     He  writes  : 

War  Office,  April  5,  1847. 
My  dear  Skinner, 

Your  welcome  letters  of  the  23rd  of  February  and  10th 

of  March  reached  me  together  the  day  before  yesterday.     You 

are  a  fine  fellow — a  man  after  my  own  heart,  who  will  not  permit 

himself  to  be  overcome  by  difficulties,  and  to  whose  exertions  God 

is  sure  to  give  a  blessing.  .  .  . 

You  are  doing  good  service  with  your  Lent  lectures ;  and  it 

gladdens  my  heart  to  learn  that  the    officers  attend.     I    saw  a 

Captain  Fanshawe,  of  the  Engineers,  the  other  day,  who  spoke  of 

you  and  your  usefulness  exactly  as  I  could  have  wished.  .  .  « 


48  LETTERS  FROM  REV.  G.  R.  GLEIG. 

God  bless  you,  my  dear  Skinner,  and  forward  you  in  all  your 

righteous  endeavourings. 

Ever  yours  most  sincerely, 

G.  R.  Gleig. 

War  Office,  August  4,  1847. 

My  dear  Skinner, 

Lord  Seaton's  application  in  your  favour  for  a  horse 
allowance  has  gone  directly  to  the  Secretary  at  War,  and  will  be 
decided  upon  without  my  having  an  opportunity  to  support  your 
claim.  I  quite  feel  that  a  horse  is  as  necessary  for  you  as  it  is  for 
a  clergyman  in  the  West  Indies;  but  there  may  not  be  the  same 
feeling  upstairs  !  But  whatever  the  answer  may  be,  you  must  not 
think  of  resigning.  Rather  relax  a  little  in  your  efforts  during  the 
hot  season.  Do  anything,  indeed,  except  abandon  a  place  in 
which  you  are  doing  so  much  good,  and  to  which  I  should  find 
extreme  difficulty  in  sending,  just  at  present,  a  fit  successor.  I 
am  aware  of  the  difficulty  of  relaxing  to  a  generous  nature  like 
yours.  But  remember  that  the  choice  lies  between  putting  re- 
straint upon  yourself,  and  suffering,  it  may  be,  some  inadequate  or 
ill-disposed  stranger  to  come  and  mar  all  that  has  yet  been  done. 
Don't  talk  of  resigning  under  any  circumstances.  Rather  be 
patient  and  persevering,  and  good  will  come  out  of  it  to  many,  as 
well  as  to  yourself. 

I  rejoice  heartily  over  your  successes  with  the  poor  soldiers 
and  their  long-neglected  families.  Believe  me,  that  the  reports 
which  I  receive  of  you  from  all  quarters — among  others,  from  Lord 
Seaton — make  me  glad  !  I  thank  God  that  you  are  what  you  are, 
and  I  pray  earnestly  that  you  may  reap,  in  more  ways  than  one, 
the  fruit  of  the  good  tree  which  you  have  planted. 

I  am  always  yours  most  sincerely, 

G.  R.  Gleig. 

Rev.  J.  Skinner. 

January  13,  1848. 
I  dined  last  night  with  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop,  and  had 
a  very  pleasant  party.    It  was  very  interesting.     He  was  supported 
on  his  right  by  the  Archbishop  of  Corfu,  and  on  his  left  by  myself. 


FUNERAL   OF  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CORFO.  49 

There  were,  besides,  three  Roman  Catholic  priests  (an  Italian, 
a  Spaniard,  and  an  Irishman),  a  Romish  layman,  and  two  Greek 
nobili. 

Our  conversation  was  all  in  Italian.  We  did  not  touch  on 
controverted  points  in  the  least.  We  were  all  most  friendly 
together,  and  I  went  home  lamenting  that  such  brotherly  union 
could  not  be  real,  and  deeper  than  the  mere  common  courtesy  of 
hospitality. 

March  8,  1848. 

Yesterday  the  funeral  of  the  Archbishop  of  Corfu  took  place, 
and  a  most  imposing  scene  it  was.  No  one  could  fail  to  be  im- 
pressed by  the  amazing  reverence  and  decorum  of  an  immense 
crowd,  which  in  England  would  probably  have  been  riot,  con- 
fusion, and  profanity.  There  were  upwards  of  two  hundred 
priests  in  full  copes,  magnificently  embroidered,  and  each,  in 
ranks  of  two  files,  carrying  candles  and  chanting  solemnly  as  they 
went  the  mournful  funeral  psalm.  Then  came  the  body,  sitting 
erect  upon  the  archiepiscopal  throne,  magnificently  robed,  with 
the  gorgeous  mitre  on  its  head,  the  Gospels  bound  in  gold  and 
jewels  in  its  right  hand,  and  the  crosier  of  gold  in  its  left,  borne 
on  the  shoulders  of  six  priests  in  full  canonicals.  The  expression 
of  the  good  old  man's  face  was  that  of  calm  innocent  sleep,  and 
not  in  the  least  like  the  horror  of  death.  Behind  followed  all  the 
authorities,  senators,  legislators,  and  others,  military  and  civil,  I 
among  them  in  full  canonicals,  making  in  all  a  procession  of 
many  hundreds,  and  accompanied  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  whole 
island,  to  the  sum  of  many  thousands. 

It  was  a  strange  mixture  of  ecclesiastical  with  military  pomp. 
The  deceased  prelate  was  buried  with  the  honours  of  a  major- 
general.  The  guard  of  honour  preceded  the  two  hundred  and 
fifty  priests,  their  splendid  band  playing  the  "  Dead  March  "  in 
Saul ;  and  the  great  guns  from  the  citadel,  as  well  as  the  field 
guns  of  the  Royal  Artillery,  fired  the  usual  salute. 

Beautiful  and  striking  as  a  military  funeral  is  in  itself,  to  my 
mind  the  mixture  was  the  only  drawback  to  the  extreme  beauty 

E 


50  FUNERAL   CEREMONIAL. 

and  solemnity  of  the  whole  ecclesiastical  ceremony.  First, 
because  it  was  so  obviously  incongruous,  and  second,  because 
wherever  our  English  are  required  to  join  in  an  occasion  of  the 
kind,  they  cannot  leave  their  irreverent  remarks  and  manners 
behind  them.  A  funeral  oration  was  pronounced  in  Greek  by  a 
priest.  He  commenced  it  standing  at  the  feet  Of  the  body  as  it 
sat  on  the  throne ;  but  presently  such  an  outcry  was  raised  by  the 
multitude  outside  to  hear  it,  that  he  proceeded  out  of  doors,  and 
concluded  in  the  open  air. 

The  body  was  buried  just  as  it  sat,  erect  and  in  all  the 
paraphernalia  of  office ;  lowered  into  a  vault  prepared  for  it,  to 
abide  the  day  of  the  restoration  of  all  things.  There  is  something 
in  this  which  perhaps  jars  upon  the  notions  which  our  customs 
are  apt  to  suggest ;  but  no  doubt  this  uncoffined  corpse  expresses 
the  more  lively  faith  in  the  resurrection,  and  especially  the  attitude 
of  watchful  preparation  which  ought  especially  to  be  associated 
with  the  office  of  a  prince  and  a  ruler  in  the  Church  of  God. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

EARLY   MARRIED   LIFE. 
1848-185 1. 

"The  time  is  great. 
What  times  are  little  ?     To  the  sentinel 
That  hour  is  regal  when  he  mounts  on  guard. " 

In  May,  1848,  Mr.  Skinner  was  allowed  to  find  a  locum 
tenens,  and  to  return  to  England  on  six  months'  leave  for 
his  marriage,  to  which,  after  the  long  probation  of  nine 
years,  Mr.  Raymond  had  given  his  full  consent  A  few 
extracts  follow  from  the  journal  kept  on  his  way  home. 

May  24. — Left  Corfu  under  a  royal  salute  from  the  batteries  in 
honour  of  the  Queen's  birthday.  Just  before  weighing  anchor  there 
came  on  board  a  Russian  nobleman  and  suite  of  ten  persons, 
Count  Tolstoy,  his  sister  Madame  Apraxia  with  her  daughters, 
and  an  English  governess.  I  had  formed  high  anticipations  of 
this  party  from  the  account  of  one  or  two  friends  who  had  known 
them,  and  considered  myself  exceeding  lucky  in  having  them  for 
fellow-passengers.  .  .  .  The  Russian  family  were  accompanied  by 
the  Kiisters,  Mussurus,  and  Mr.  Meyersbach,  and  Scandella,  the 
Spanish  priest,  followed.  He  introduced  me  to  the  count,  who  at 
once  pulled  out  an  old  number  of  the  Christia?i  Remembrancer  as 
a  sort  of  card;  and  pointing  to  a  review  of  Blackmore's  "  Russian 
Church,"  edited  by  Palmer,  began  to  ask  me  if  I  was  a  "  Puseyite." 
He  had  been  to  Oxford  and  had  made  Dr.  Pusey's  acquaintance, 


52  RUSSIAN  FRIENDS. 

and  spoke  most  enthusiastically  of  Palmer  and  all  his  interest  in 
the  Oriental  Church.  He  lamented  that  the  tendency  of  Church- 
people  in  England  was  Romeward,  and  seemed  surprised  when  I 
corrected  him,  and  claimed  for  the  Oriental  Church  a  large  share 
of  our  sympathy ;  although  naturally  our  affections  lay  in  the 
West. 

We  discussed  Palmer,  and  agreed  that  his  tendency,  from 
manner,  temperament,  and  language,  was  rather  to  drive  people 
from  than  to  win  them  to  his  views.  "  Palmer/'  he  said,  "  had 
told  him  of  himself  that  it  was  said  he  was  antediluvian  !  " 

I  was  introduced  to  the  English  governess,  whom  I  had  seen 
in  my  church  on  Sunday — a  very  pleasing  person,  on  presenting 
whom  the  count  said,  "  We  have  many  battles,  elle  est  un  peu 
protestante  ! "  I  said,  "  Plus  d'un  peu  peut-etre,"  for  there  are 
many  who  are  «//nz-Protestant.  "A  little  protestant,"  he  replied, 
"is  more  than  enough." 

Spoke  of  the  ignorance  and  superstition  of  the  Greeks.  Not 
so  in  Russia.  The  gospel  is  preached  there,  and  the  sacraments 
administered  in  a  language  understood  by  the  people. 

In  Russia  a  priest  is  obliged  to  marry.  If  a  deacon's  wife  dies, 
he  cannot  be  made  a  priest ;  he  must  either  become  a  monk,  or 
remain  a  deacon. 

The  count  was  very  much  struck  by  the  French  school  of  young- 
men  in  Corfu,  and  regarded  it  as  a  most  melancholy  sign. 

The  young  ladies  made  themselves  exceedingly  agreeable  ; 
like  all  Russians,  their  knowledge  of  languages  is  endless.  They 
speak  English  beautifully.  "  Are  you  chaplain  to  the  regiment  ?  " 
asked  one.  "  How  can  men  do  well  without  each  knowing  their 
priest,  and  having  his  spiritual  wants  supplied  ?  I  suppose  you 
will  speak  to  the  Government  and  have  this  arranged  when  you  go 
to  England  ! " 

Count  Tolstoy  spoke  with  great  horror  of  our  admission  of 
Jews  into  Parliament,  and  asked  me  whether  it  could  be  true  (as 
was  alleged)  that  any  of  our  Bishops  would  vote  for  the  Jew  Bill. 

Spoke  with  surprise  of  Hampden's  appointment,  and  the 
degradation  of  our  Church  to  the  State. 


CLERGY  IN  RUSSIA.  53 

A  Prince  Mourusie  on  board  appeared  to  be  a  person  worth 
discovering.  Of  a  wealthy  Moldavian  family,  he  had  been  expelled 
from  his  country  just  now  for  leading  in  a  movement,  not  for  a 
republic,  but  simply  for  a  constitutional  administration  of  his 
country's  laws.  He  states — what  is  remarkable — that  nothing 
gains  such  ground  in  his  country  among  the  better  classes,  as  that 
loose  French  literature  which  leads  to  infidelity.  .  .  . 

May  25. — Came  on  deck  about  eleven,  and  had  a  long  talk 
with  Madame  Apraxia,  a  most  delightful  person.  She  had  con- 
ceived quite  erroneous  views  about  the  relation  of  Greeks  and 
English  at  Corfu.  Explained  that  the  Greek  Society  had  made 
itself  distasteful  to  the  English,  and  the  English  mutually  so  to 
the  Greeks,  on  account  of  many  circumstances  in  private  life 
which  would  not  bear  repetition ;  that  there  were  faults  on  both 
sides  for  which  no  mere  external  results  were  sufficient  to  account. 
Explained  also  the  nature  of  the  power  of  veto  which  the  Ionian 
Government  exercise  upon  the  selection  of  a  Bishop  by  the  clergy, 
and  suggested  how  wholesome  it  was,  considering  the  station 
and  attainments  of  the  electors. 

She  spoke  most  enthusiastically  of  her  own  Church  in  Russia, 
and  with  excessive  horror  of  the  processions  and  worship  of  relics 
in  Corfu — "tout  a  fait  a  la  Romaine" — and  disclaiming  it  entirely 
for  Russia  I 

Education  in  Russia  for  the  priesthood  very  complete.  Five 
years  at  the  Semmaire,  of  which  there  is  one  in  each  province, 
and  ten  at  the  Academie,  of  which  there  are  five — Petersburg, 
Moscow,  Kief,  Kassan,  and  Kharschoff. 

Often  consecrated  deacon  and  priest  in  one  day. 

Towards  afternoon  a  strange  steamer  came  in  sight,  bearing  a 
red  flag,  or  a  black  one  on  the  main.  She  fired  metre  guns  at  us, 
and  seemed  bearing  down  rapidly  upon  us.  We  put  on  steam 
and  got  out  of  her  way.  The  captain  was  dreadfully  alarmed, 
and  did  not  seem  to  know  what  to  do.  The  suspicions  are  that 
she  was  a  Genoese,  and  we  did  wisely  to  get  away  ! 

May  26. — Awoke  about  seven  by  the  stopping  of  the  steamer. 
A  fishing-boat  astern  came  to  announce  to  us  the  pleasing  intelli- 


54  POLA. 

gence  that  Trieste  was  blockaded,  and  that  our  orders  from'  the 
Austrian  Lloyd's  were  to  go  into  Pola  and  remain  there;  that 
the  united  Genoese,  Sardinian,  and  Venetian  fleets  were  on  the 
look-out  to  take  up  all  the  Austrian  steamers  they  could  find,  and 
that  on  no  account  we  must  risk  our  packet,  which  for  making  a 
defence  was  in  as  helpless  a  position  as  can  well  be  conceived. 
It  seems  to  me  a  great  mistake  sending  us  to  Pola :  we  ought  to 
go  up  to  Fiume,  where  there  is  secure  anchorage,  and  the  distance 
from  Trieste  much  shorter.     However,  go  we  must ! 

Reached  Pola  about  nine  o'clock,  one  of  the  most  lovely  bays 
imaginable.  Full  of  beautiful  little  islands,  and  crowned  by  the 
most  magnificent  ruin  conceivable — an  Amphitheatre  larger  than 
.  the  Coliseum  at  Rome,  or  than  that  at  Verona,  built  by  Augustus  ; 
it  is  the  attraction,  of  course,  to  this  place,  interesting  as  it  is  on 
account  of  its  historical  associations,  as  old  as  Jason  and  the 
Golden  Fleece. 

After  breakfast,  visited  all  the  lions.  Temple  of  Augustus  and 
Roma — a  most  beautiful  little  ruin,  perfect  and  rich  beyond  ex- 
pression. Temple  of  Diana — not  so  perfect,  and  apparently  so 
disfigured  by  Venetian  renovation,  as  to  have  lost  its  original 
character.  The  Amphitheatre — the  sight  of  the  whole  j  stupendous 
effect ;  scale  magnificent ;  perfect  in  all  its  arches,  and  sufficiently 
preserved  in  all  its  interior  proportions.  A  gateway — very  elegant, 
recently  discovered,  and  not  mentioned  by  Murray.  The  "  Porta 
Aurea  " — a  most  beautiful  triumphal  arch  of  the  same  age  with  the 
Amphitheatre.  We  then  walked  to  the  site  of  the  ancient  city ;  a 
mere  plain,  with  not  so  much  as  a  stone  upon  it. 

May  27. — Dressed  this  morning  earlier  than  usual  and  went 
ashore.  Spent  half  an  hour  in  the  cathedral  most  calmly.  With 
my  own  Prayer-Book,  the  early  English  windows,  the  narrow 
chancel,  and  the  short  transepts,  I  could  have  imagined  myself  in 
an  English  country  church.  Felt,  in  spite  of  our  divisions,  that 
the  house  of  God,  in  whatever  land,  was  a  home. 

Returning  to  the  steamer,  I  found  Count  Tolstoy,  Madame 
Apraxia,  and  her  daughter  pushing  off  to  go  to  church ;  having 
discovered  that  there  was  an  Oriental  church  in  the  town,  pre- 


pevol  55 

sided  over  by  a  Sclavonic  priest.  I  had  mentioned  to  the  count 
the  interest  I  took  in  these  matters,  and  we  had  arranged  to  visit 
this  church  together.  However,  on  his  return  to  the  ship  he  told 
me  that  he  had  not  found  the  priest,  who  lived  at  a  village  called 
Pevoi,  eight  miles  distant,  and  to  whom,  therefore,  it  would  be 
interesting  to  pay  a  visit.  The  count  having  ordered  the  only 
available  carriage  in  the  place — a  primitive  cart,  made  of  a  few 
unworked  larch  spars,  and  drawn  by  two  rough  ponies — we  made  a 
start.  The  count  was  a  delightful  companion,  and  the  country 
most  lovely.  Vineyards  on  all  sides,  and  highly  cultivated  fields, 
betokened  an  industry  in  the  inhabitants  which  I  greatly  envied 
for  the  not  less  favoured  natives  of  my  own  Corfu. 

The  count  is  the  warmest  Churchman  I  ever  met.  All  his 
whole  soul  is  centred  in  this  subject,  and  all  his  conversation  leads 
to  its  interests  and  concerns.  Our  conversation  took  a  general 
turn.  Lamented  bitterly  the  vaunt,  often  too  justly  made,  that  the 
followers  of  Mahomed  were  more  virtuous  and  devoted  than  the 
disciples  of  Christ.  The  count  believes  this  accounted  for  by 
ascribing  it  to  the  devil's  agency.  Mahomedans  very  nume- 
rous in  Russia,  especially  in  Chassau,  the  natives  of  which  are 
very  much  to  Russia  what  the  Moors  are  to  Spain.  The  bond  of 
unity,  he  said,  is  much  stronger  in  attaching  Orientals  to  the 
Church  and  to  each  other,  than  among  the  Western  Christians, 
partly  probably  because  of  the  continued  persecutions,  which  must 
sharpen  the  feeling  of  mutual  love  in  those  who  have  equally  to 
share  them.  Russia  the  only  country  in  which  the  Orthodox  Church 
of  the  East  is  triumphant ;  and  Nicholas,  being  the  only  orthodox 
monarch  in  Christendom,  is  prayed  for  by  all  the  orthodox  Christians 
at  Antioch  and  Jerusalem,  as  well  as  at  Petersburg  and  Moscow. 

We  drew  near  to  Pevoi,  and  soon  found  an  affecting  illustration 
of  our  conversation. 

This  is  a  remarkable  village.  Alone  in  Idria  it  unanimously 
adheres  to  the  orthodox  Eastern  Church,  and  preserves  the  Illyric 
language,  which  approximates  very  closely  to  the  Sclavonic,  of 
which  indeed  it  is  but  a  dialect.  I  was  struck  by  the  evident 
shame  with  which  the  Roman  Catholic  inhabitants  of  this  imme- 


56  SCLAVONIC  PEASANTS. 

diate  neighbourhood  regard  the  Illyric.  They  speak  Italian,  and 
will  not  allow  that  they  know  any  other  !  Not  so  the  simple 
Pevoites.  Murray  speaks  of  them  as  a  Greek  colony.  They  are 
no  such  thing,  nor  does  their  costume  or  manner  in  the  least 
resemble  Greek.  They  have  no  connection  with  Greece  whatever. 
They  are  Sclavi,  and  were  originally  bred  upon  the  soil,  and  remain 
a  witness  to  this  day  against  the  apostacy  of  their  country,  upon 
which  no  doubt  Roman  and  Venetian  influence  has  done  its  work. 
We  had  some  reason  to  doubt,  at  one  part  of  the  road,  whether 
our  voiturier  was  not  misleading  us ;  and  getting  out  of  the  car- 
riage, we  accosted  two  poor  women  tending  their  few  sheep  in  the 
green  lane.  The  count  spoke  to  them  in  the  Sclavonic  tongue, 
and  it  was  delicious  to  see  their  bright  eyes  beam  love  upon  him 
as  he  uttered  the  words,  "  Are  you  faithful  Christians  of  the  Holy 
Orthodox  Oriental  Church  of  Christ  ?  "  They  instantly  made  the 
sign  of  the  cross  according  to  the  Eastern  mode,  and  replied, 
"We  are  faithful  Christians  of  the  Holy  Orthodox  Church  of 
Christ  by  the  grace  of  God  !  "  "  And  Sclave  ?  "  added  the  count. 
"  Sclave,"  they  replied.  "  And  I  am  so  also,"  he  continued, 
"  a  Russian,  and  am  come  to  wish  you  God-speed."  The  women 
burst  into  tears,  and  would  have  embraced  him  had  he  permitted 
them!  "Voila" — he  turned  to  me — "voila,  c'est  la  force  de 
l'Eglise  !  "  It  certainly  was  a  touching  scene,  and  I  sighed  within 
me  for  some  better  evidence  of  such  a  bond  among  ourselves, 
than  the  cold,  heartless,  and  unreal  profession  which  makes  us  but 
brethren  in  name.  These  women  directed  our  steps  aright,  and 
we  were  soon  in  the  village.  We  instantly  sought  out  the  priest, 
and  found  him  a  right  hearty,  good-looking  old  gentleman,  in  the 
best  possible  state  of  bodily  preservation.  He  was  dressed  in  a 
blue  cassock  with  a  crimson  band,  a  skull-cap,  and  had  a  grey 
flowing  beard.  He  welcomed  us  with  no  less  affection  than  the 
poor  women.  To  me,  as  a  priest  of  the  English  Church,  he  was 
exceedingly  kind,  and  said  in  Italian  (for  we  conversed  in  that 
language)  how  much  it  gratified  him  to  make  the  acquaintance  of 
a  priest  of  that  Church,  to  the  honour  of  which  he  had  heard  so 
much.     It  seemed,  however,  to  delight  him  most  (as  I  have  always 


MARRIAGE.  57 

observed  in  the  Greek  priests)  to  feel  and  know  that  I  was  not  a 
Romanist.  He  addressed  me  always  as  "  Reverendissimo "  ! 
Soon  we  had  all  the  Church  books  and  holy  vessels,  and  all  the 
things  appertaining  to  the  sanctuary,  upon  the  table,  and  I  was 
delighted  with  all.  The  holy  vessels  were  handsome  and  plain — 
great  beauty,  but  no  tawdriness  ;  and  what  pleased  me  most,  the 
Holy  Gospels  were  reduced  to  the  language  which  the  people 
spoke  and  could  understand.  The  old  priest  dwelt  to  me  with 
much  emphasis  upon  his  rejection  of  the  word  hostia,  and  his 
preservation  of  the  unmutilated  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  our  Lord.  We  adjourned  to  the  church,  where  all 
things,  much  simpler  and  more  decent  than  in  the  Ionian  Isles, 
pleased  me  greatly.  He  catechizes  the  children  of  his  parish,  and 
has  a  good  school — two  important  facts  which  one  looks  for  in 
vain  either  in  Greece  or  in  the  islands  of  the  Ionian  republic. 
The  good  man's  hospitality  was  not  confined  to  kind  words.  He 
produced  some  delicious  muscat,  made  from  his  own  vines  and  by 
himself,  and  called,  from  its  exquisite  flavour  of  roses,  "  Vino  di 
Rose."  He  insisted,  moreover,  after  the  manner  of  the  East,  on 
giving  us  coffee,  but  we  escaped  on  condition  of  taking  with  us  a 
bottle  of  his  favourite  wine. 

Our  voiturier  proved  rather  a  good  specimen  of  the  cautious 
Austrian.  I  asked  him  on  which  side  he  was,  but  he  would  not 
understand  my  question.  At  last,  putting  it  to  him  in  the  very 
most  direct  way,  whether  he  preferred  the  Austrian,  or  would 
choose  the  Italian  Government,  he  simply  replied,  "  Si  dice  che  ci 
sara  un'  altra  potenza  qui."  "Non  e  vero,"  I  said,  "  ma  se  ci  sia, 
sara  molto  peggio  per  voi."  He  seemed  for  an  instant  to  sup- 
pose I  had  said  buono,  and  seemed  delighted  with  the  sentiment ; 
but  on  my  repeating  peggio  very  strongly,  he  said,  "  Ah,  peggio. 
Si,  si,  sicuro — peggio — anch'  io  penso  cosi."  His  real  opinion 
evidently  was  the  other  way. 

Early  in  June  Mr.  Skinner  arrived  in  England. 

We  were  married  on  July  18,  1848  (Mrs.  Skinner  wrote),  and  I 
became  his  blessed,  happy  wife.     The  summer  was  spent  in  Scot- 


58  RETURN  TO   CORFU. 

land  and  different  parts  of  England  among  his  relations  and  mine, 
and  in  November  we  found  ourselves  in  our  lovely  home  at 
Corfu.  His  life,  as  regards  his  work,  was  much  the  same  after  his 
marriage  as  it  was  before.  I  remember  quite  well  being  struck  by 
the  marks  of  love  and  respect  shown  to  him  by  the  soldiers. 
Many  years  after  this  time  (I  think  in  the  summer  of  1859  or 
i860),  as  we  were  walking  in  St.  James's  Park,  a  soldier  saluted 
my  husband  from  his  sentry-box,  the  noise  of  his  musket  attract- 
ing our  attention.  We  stopped,  and  then  the  man  said,  "You 
were  my  chaplain,  sir,  at  Corfu ;  "  and  his  whole  face  glowed  with 
pleasure. 

In  the  early  spring  of  1849,  my  husband  had  several  very 
severe  attacks  of  quinsy,  one  of  these  bringing  him  nearly  to 
death's  door.  All  the  following  summer  he  was  much  out  of 
health,  but  he  worked  on,  never  sparing  himself  even  in  the  hottest 
weather.  By  this  time  the  garrison  church  in  the  citadel  was 
completed  :  it  was  never  consecrated,  only  licensed  by  the  Bishop 
of  Gibraltar.  My  husband  now  increased  the  services,  so  as  to 
give  the  soldiers  the  opportunity  of  coming  voluntarily  to  some  of 
them.  The  regiments  were  only  required  to  attend  church  once 
on  Sunday,  and  that  in  the  morning,  and  this  was  the  only  service 
(except  an  early  one  at  Vido)  that  the  chaplain  was  required  to 
give.  But  my  husband  had  an  afternoon  service  every  Sunday, 
and  also  week-da,y  services  in  the  evening,  with  sermons  or  instruc- 
tions during  Advent  and  Lent,  which  were  well  attended,  and  on 
Saints'  Days.  He  also  had  communicant  classes  frequently,  both 
for  the  soldiers  and  for  their  wives,  at  his  own  house. 

His  home  life  was  one  of  almost  ideal  happiness  and 
brightness.  To  his  brother  George,  who  three  years  pre- 
viously had  married  Margaretta,  eldest  daughter  of  Mr. 
Raymond,  he  writes,  on  New  Year's  Day,  1849  : 

All  the  signs  and  tokens  of  Christmas  joy  which  we  see  around 
us  here,  different  as  many  of  them  are,  recall  to  our  memories  the 
blessings  and  happy  gifts  of  that  happy  time  as  we  knew  it  at 


NEW- YEAR   CEREMONIES.  59 

Middleton,  and  among  the  circle  of  those  we  loved  most  on  earth. 
And  the  greatest  joy  of  all,  to  absentees  such  as  we,  is  this :  that 
in  those  circles  of  loved  ones,  which  go  on  gathering  round  the 
paternal  hearth,  first  missing  one,  and  then  another  of  its  members 
year  by  year,  we  are  not  forgotten.  Though  absent  in  body,  we  are 
present  in  spirit,  and  the  chords  of  Christian  love  answer  to  each 
other  in  all  our  hearts,  as  if  no  separation  between  us  were  known. 
My  dearest  George  and  Maggie,  may  this  return  of  another  year 
be  to  you  and  your  pets  the  foretaste  of  many,  many  happy  years 
to  come  !  God  will  make  us  happy  in  His  own  way.  That  is 
better  than  our  way.  Though,  therefore,  you  may  have  your 
sorrows  and  your  trials,  you  will  haply  be  the  rather  happy.  And 
so  I  pray  for  you,  not  that  you  may  have  all  the  future  as  you 
may  wish  it,  but  that  your  future  may  be  happy,  as  God  wills  and 
works  for  the  enduring  comfort  and  joy  of  all  who  love  Him. 

This  has  been  an  eventful  year  which  has  just  passed — to  me 
an  especially  eventful  year.  Blessings  have  preponderated  in  my 
cup,  as  they  do,  I  think,  in  the  lot  of  most  of  us,  if  we  are  candid. 
Now  do  you,  my  dear  brother  and  sister,  pray  for  me  that  the 
year  I  have  entered  upon  to-day  may  be  a  year  of  gratitude  to 
God,  and  the  benefactors  He  has  raised  up  for  me,  and  that  I  may 
show  my  gratitude  and  love  in  obedience.  .  .  . 

Two  or  three  letters  from  the  young  wife  to  her  mother 
give  so  vivid  a  description  of  the  quasi  viceroyalty  at  Corfu 
while  still  connected  with  England,  that  they  are  inserted 
here. 

New  Year's  Day,  1849. 
The  i  st  of  January  is  the  anniversary  here  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  Ionian  States,  and  is  a  very  grand  day.  Lord 
Seaton  holds  a  levee,  at  which  all  the  Greek  and  Romish  clergy,  the 
gentlemen  of  the  town,  the  officers  and  senators,  Greek  and  Eng- 
lish, attend.  Sometimes  Lady  Seaton  asks  a  few  ladies  to  witness 
the  proceedings  from  a  gallery  in  the  state-room,  and  I  was  asked 
and  went  with  Mrs.  Wal pole.  It  was  rather  an  absurd  sight,  because 
there  is  so  much  form  and  fuss  about  nothing.     The  levee  is  held 


60  ASCENSION-DA  Y  "  FESTA." 

at  eleven  o'clock.  Lord  Seaton  in  a  most  splendid  uniform,  and 
completely  covered  with  orders  and  medals,  stands  in  the  room 
surrounded  by  all  the  principal  people  of  the  place  ;  he  represent- 
ing the  British  sovereign,  and  they  the  English  court.  James 
(representing,  I  suppose,  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York 
at  least,  if  not  the  whole  bench  of  Bishops,  English  and  Irish !) 
stood  on  one  side  in  his  full  canonicals,  his  tights  and  silk  stock- 
ings, with  blazing  buckles  on  his  shoes. 

Then  all  the  staff  officers  and  other  great  men  stand  round,  all 
splendidly  dressed.  When  the  court  is  quite  arranged,  the  scene 
begins,  and  every  one  who  likes  to  come  and  bow  to  the  Lord 
High  Commissioner  does  come,  and  when  the  bow  is  made,  the 
bower  walks  out  of  the  room  through  another  door ;  and  so,  when 
every  one  who  intends  to  come  has  come  and  is  gone,  Lord 
Seaton  bows  to  his  court  and  immediately  retires  to  recover,  I 
should  imagine,  the  crick  in  his  neck  occasioned  by  such  continual 
bowing  !  It  did  my  heart  good  to  hear  the  fine  band  playing  the 
English  national  airs,  "  God  save  the  Queen,"  "  Rule  Britannia," 
etc.,  and  my  chief  amusement  consisted  in  observing  the  awkward 
bows  and  scrapings  of  some  of  the  unfortunate  men,  who  evidently 
did  not  know  what  to  do  with  either  their  heads,  arms,  or  legs. 

May  29,  1849. 
The  Greek  Ascension  Day  is,  like  their  Easter,  one  week 
later  than  ours,  so  last  Thursday  was  their  Festa,  and  it  is  the 
festa  of  the  year.  In  the  morning  they  all  go  to  church,  and  as 
usual  I  found  that  Pierro  had  gone  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
The  afternoon  is  devoted  to  rejoicings  of  a  more  worldly  turn. 
About  two  miles  out  of  the  town  is  a  beautiful  place  called 
Ascension ;  it  is  a  pretty  village,  consisting  of  but  few  cottages, 
but  a  beautiful  olive  grove  on  a  cliff  just  above  the  blue  sea.  To 
this  place  on  Ascension  Day  all  the  Greek  peasants  repair,  and 
spend  the  day  in  roasting  lambs  whole  (I  saw  about  ten  at  one 
fire !),  eating,  drinking,  singing,  dancing,  and  fiddling.  The 
country  women,  some  coming  from  immense  distances,  appear  in 
the  gayest  and  richest  costumes,  and  women  who  on  other  days 


THE  "  ROMAIKA."  6l 

have  to  work  in  the  fields  and  wear  the  coarsest  clothing,  on  this 
day  come  out  arrayed  in  the  richest  Genoa-embroidered  velvet 
and  real  gold  ornaments.  Several  of  them  had  no  less  than  six 
or  seven  heavy  gold  chains  round  their  necks,  and  their  fingers 
covered  with  rings,  some  as  large  as  a  half-crown  piece,  roughly 
set,  but  very  fine  stones.  They  would  scorn  to  wear  imitations, 
and  work  hard  and  save  all  to  buy  this  festa  finery.  The  richest 
dresses  look  the  oldest,  and,  I  am  told,  have  been  handed  down 
from  generation  to  generation  as  heirlooms.  The  prettiest  and 
most  amusing  sight  was  to  see  the  peasants  dance  the  Romaika. 
They  stand  in  a  circle,  the  men  on  one  side  and  the  women  on 
the  other,  each  person  holding  the  end  of  a  handkerchief,  by 
which  means  the  circle  is  united.  Then  they  dance  round  very 
slowly  to  the  music  of  two  fiddles,  the  fiddlers  standing  in  the 
centre  of  the  circle,  which  play  a  very  monotonous  tune,  and  both 
dancers  and  fiddlers  look  as  intensely  grave  as  though  it  were  the 
most  important  moment  of  their  lives,  and  perhaps  their  gravity 
is  the  most  ridiculous  part  of  the  scene.  Everybody  in  Corfu 
goes  out  to  see  the  Festa,  some  in  boats  and  some  in  carriages, 
and  certainly  it  is  a  pretty  sight.  We  went  and  returned  by  water, 
taking  Paraskevi  with  us,  who  was  dressed  in  a  lilac  barege  dress, 
white  shawl,  and  drawn  white  muslin  bonnet  with  pink  flowers 
inside  !  She  had  brushed  her  hair  till  it  shone  like  a  raven's  wing, 
and  had  washed  her  bronzed  face  till  that  shone  again  like  a  brass 
pan.  However,  I  must  say  she  had  managed  to  arrange  her 
dress  very  becomingly,  and  I  am  so  really  fond  of  the  dear  little 
creature  that  I  can  overlook  this  one  weakness,  love  of  finery. 

June  7,  1849. 

The  new  Lord  High  Commissioner,  Mr.  Ward,  is  come,  and 
Lord  Seaton  is  gone.  This  is  a  matter  of  great  regret  to  the 
majority  of  the  people  here.  .  .  .  On  Friday  we  went  to  take  leave. 
It  was  most  affecting.  .  .  .  But  the  sight  on  Saturday  was  the  most 
imposing  I  ever  witnessed,  and  so  touching  that  I  am  sure  I  have 
not  cried  so  much  since  I  left  England.  But  I  must  tell  you, 
what  will  interest  you  perhaps  as  much  as  anything  to  hear,  that 


62  DEPARTURE   OF  LORD  SEATON. 

in  the  morning,  when  James  went  to  take  leave,  Lord  Seaton's 
manner  was  most  warm  and  friendly  to  him,  and  on  parting  he 
said,  "  I  must  again  repeat  what  I  have  often  had  occasion  to 
remark,  that  you  are  the  best  military  chaplain  I  ever  met  with, 
and  I  have  had  a  good  deal  of  experience.  You  know  the  way 
to  gain  a  soldier,  and  I  highly  approve  of  all  you  have  done  and 
are  doing  here."  Was  not  this  pleasing,  dearest  mother?  .  .  . 
But  I  must  now  tell  you  of  the  departure.  The  steamer  which 
was  to  take  them  to  Trieste  lay  exactly  opposite  my  windows, 
about  half  a  mile  from  the  shore,  and  the  place  where  the  party 
would  take  the  boat  is  exactly  under  my  windows,  so  I  could  not 
have  been  better  situated  to  see  the  whole  procession  than  on  my 
own  balcony.  .  .  .  The  scene  was  a  heartrending  one.  It  was  just 
like  a  funeral ;  everybody  with  such  a  long  face,  and  many  in 
floods  of  tears,  sobbing  and  crying.  The  crowd  under  our 
windows  was  immense,  and  the  sea  seemed  alive  with  boats  filled 
with  people.  At  last  the  palace  party,  preceded  by  an  awful 
cloud  of  dust,  and  a  mob  of  people  running  to  get  good  places  on 
the  sea-wall,  made  its  way  towards  the  boat.  It  was  a  large  pro- 
cession, but  of  course  the  principal  actors  in  the  scene  were  Lord 
and  Lady  Seaton,  their  three  sons  and  three  daughters.  They 
walked  quickly,  the  ladies  with  their  veils  down,  and  Lord  Seaton 
bowing  to  all  around,  who  set  up  a  deafening  cheer.  ...  As  soon 
as  he  set  his  foot  on  the  boat,  the  cannons  began  firing,  and  the 
Greek  and  English  bands  played  "  God  save  the  Queen."  It 
sounded  so  beautifully  off  the  water ;  but  it  was  when  the  band 
struck  up  "Should  auld  acquaintance  be  forgot,"  that  every  eye 
was  moistened,  and  here  the  cheering  was  immense — it  echoed 
again  from  the  rocks ;  and  through  the  telescope  I  could  see  how 
deeply  affected  poor  Lady  Seaton  and  the  Miss  Colbornes  were. 
Lord  Seaton  stood  up  in  the  boat,  bowing  to  all  around,  and  as 
it  neared  the  steamer  the  shouting  seemed  to  increase.  I  saw 
people  crying  as  if  they  had  lost  their  dearest  friend,  and  I  think 
James  and  I  were  among  the  worst !  However,  it  came  to  an  end 
at  last.  A  great  many  people  accompanied  them  to  and  got  on 
board  the  steamer,  but  these,  too,  were  obliged  to  tear  themselves 


FAILURE   OF  HEALTH.  63 

away.  The  noise  and  cheering  and  shouting  "Adieu,  adieu"  did 
not  cease  till  the  steamer  was  fairly  on  her  way,  and  for  myself  I 
watched  till  it  had  got  many  miles  away.  As  soon  as  ever  they 
were  fairly  off,  the  guns  began  firing  again  for  Mr.  Ward,  who, 
until  Lord  Seaton  had  really  vacated,  could  not  be  saluted  as 
Lord  High  Commissioner. 

The  happiness  of  the  home  at  Corfu  was  completed  by 
the  birth  of  a  little  daughter  on  November  4,  1849.  It  is 
touching,  remembering  the  end,  to  read  the  newly  made 
father's  words  of  thankful  delight,  and  his  playful  descrip- 
tion of  her  who  was  to  be  his  only  child. 

My  heart  is  too  full  of  joy  and  gratitude  (he  writes  to  Mrs. 
Raymond)  to  trust  myself  to  words,  when  I  would  tell  of  God's 
love  and  goodness  and  my  own  unworthiness.  Pray  for  me  that 
I  may  love  and  serve  Him  better,  and  so  shall  the  praise  I  owe 
Him  be  the  more  acceptable  in  His  pure  and  holy  eyes.  And 
now  I  will  tell  you  of  my  precious  little  gem,  the  future  "  Agnes 
Raymond  " — for  so,  after  that  name  which  I  have  loved  so  long 
and  faithfully,  she  is  to  be  called.  /  could  swear  it  before  the 
justice,  there  never  was  such  a  child  born  !  A  perfect  beauty!  She 
promises  to  be  lusty  and  strong,  and  of  an  easy  temper ;  so  at 
least  I  think,  for  she  goes  to  sleep  with  as  much  coolness  and 
composure,  as  if  the  world  could  go  on  without  her.  In  fact,  a 
new  and  irresistible  reason  has  grown  up  why  I  should  try  to  get 
home,  and  find  employment  out  of  a  garrison  town. 

Without  any  exaggeration,  she  is  one  of  the  very  loveliest 
babies  that  ever  was  born,  and  whether  she  pleases  other  people 
or  no,  she  pleases  her  papa  and  mamma,  and  makes  them  pray, 
with  deep  and  earnest  prayer,  that  she  may  grow  up  good — which 
is  better  than  beautiful — steadfast  in  faith,  and  rooted  in  charity, 
and  that  she  may  so  pass  the  waves  of  this  troublesome  world, 
as  finally  to  reach  the  land  of  everlasting  rest. 

In  the  spring  of  1850  Mr.  Skinner's  health  again  broke 
down,  and  at  times  he  was  utterly  unfit  for  his  work.     His 


64  RESIGNATION  OF  CHAPLAINCY. 

doctor  declared  that  he  could  not,  without  great  risk,  venture 
on  another  hot  season  at  Corfu  ;  and  his  friends  in  Eng- 
land, being  most  anxious  that  he  should  return  home, 
made  every  effort  to  find  some  work  for  him  in  this 
country.  At  that  time  the  incumbency  of  the  Episcopal 
church  of  St.  Mary's,  Glasgow,  was  vacant.  Mr.  Skinner 
was  known  to  some  of  the  trustees,  and,  as  there  seemed 
to  be  no  doubt  of  their  unanimously  electing  him,  and  that 
the  Bishop  of  Glasgow  pressed  him  to  accept  the  post,  he 
left  Corfu  in  May,  1850,  with  the  hope  of  undertaking  work 
in  his  native  land. 

There  are  a  few  lines  in  his  handwriting  of  parting 
counsel  to  his  soldiers  : 

One  word  more  and  I  have  done. 

There  are  some  here  to  whom  I  now  speak  for  the  last  time. 
That  is  a  solemn  thought,  for  it  involves  the  humbling  reflection 
that  next  time  we  meet,  it  may  be  to  give  in  our  accounts  before 
the  tribunal  of  God.  May  God's  blessing  go  with  you,  and  bring 
you  safely  through  all  the  changes  and  chances  of  this  restless 
world.  But  let  the  warning  of  this  season  upon  which  we  are 
about  to  enter  be  told,  and  let  my  last  caution  to  you  be  remem- 
bered. A  man  must  either  deny  or  indulge  himself.  There  is 
no  middle  or  indifferent  state.  The  not  denying  is  indulgence. 
It  is  throwing  the  reins  on  the  neck  of  his  lusts,  though  he  may 
lack  the  boldness  to  set  the  spur.  O  my  men,  positive  sins 
gather  and  fester  in  the  untended  moral  habit  before  you  are 
aware  that  they  have  so  much  as  gained  an  entrance.  It  may  be 
you  do  not  seek  the  sin ;  you  may  not  be  forward  in  the  temptation  ; 
you  may  not  invite  it.  You  may  be  minded  not  to  indulge  it ; 
you  may  even  be  troubled  at  its  approach ;  but  if  you  do  not  deny 
it,  the  plague  spot  will  fasten  upon  you  and  bring  you  to  ruin. 

Out  of  small  beginnings  such  as  these  there  often  issue  such 
settled  sins  as  turn  men  back  from  following  Christ  for  ever  ! 

May  God  in  His  mercy  save  you  from  such  a  fate ! 


RETURN  TO  ENGLAND.  65 

Of  one  thing  I  am  quite  sure  (Mr.  Gleig  writes),  that  his 
retirement  from  the  service  was  a  great  grief  to  me,  both  because 
I  felt  that  the  army  lost  thereby  an  able  chaplain,  and  because  the 
reasons  which  induced  him  to  take  the  steps  seemed  to  me,  at 
the  moment,  inadequate.  .  .  .  The  last  time  we  met  was  at  Alder- 
shot,  where  he  visited  his  son-in-law,*  Mr.  Fisher,  I  think  in  the 
year  1874.  He  then  looked  ill  and  worn,  but  retained  all  the  fire 
and  vigour  of  mind  which  distinguished  him  through  life.  He 
was  a  noble  fellow;  a  little  too  stern,  in  my  opinion,  as  a 
Churchman  for  the  age  in  which  he  was  born,  but  worthy  of  all 
esteem  as  a  man  of  the  purest  life  and  most  unbending  principle. 

Through  his  zeal,  activity,  constant  attention,  and  able  instruc- 
tion, the  conduct  of  the  regiments  was  much  improved  under  his 
charge  at  Corfu. 

The  late  venerable  Field  Marshal  Lord  Seaton  wrote, 
on  September  1,  1849  : 

I  believe  no  chaplain  ever  discharged  his  duties  with  greater 
profit  to  the  soldiers  than  he  did  during  the  time  I  was  in 
command  on  that  station. 

But  it  seemed  as  if,  through  life,  he  was  ever  to  sow  the 
seed  which  others  were  to  reap.  He  went  to  Glasgow  on 
reaching  England,  but  after  every  arrangement  had  been 
made  for  his  becoming  Incumbent  of  St.  Mary's,  where  he 
would  have  had  a  large  field  of  missionary  labour,  he  became 
so  ill  that  all  hopes  of  his  undertaking  the  post  had  to  be 
abandoned,  and  it  seemed  most  doubtful  whether  he  would 
ever  be  fit  for  work  again. 

It  was  necessary  that  he  should  undergo  some  regular 
medical  treatment,  and,  with  his  wife  and  child,  he  took  up 
his  quarters  in  London. 

*  His  nep/ieiu-m-\a.w. 


CHAPTER  V. 

ST.    BARNABAS',   PIMLICO. 
1851,  1852. 

"'0  che  sant'  uomo,  ma  che  tormento!'   diceva  tra  se  Don  Abbondio. 
'  Tutti  questi  santi  sono  ostinati.' " 

St.  Paul's,  Knightsbridge,  the  mother  church  of  St.  Bar- 
nabas', Pimlico,  is  itself  a  new  church,  the  first  stone  having 
been  laid  in  November,  1840.  The  district  attached  to  it, 
taken  from  the  parishes  of  St.  George's,  Hanover  Square, 
and  St.  Peter's,  Eaton  Square,  was  formed  into  a  benefice 
distinct  in  itself,  and  invested  with  a  completely  parochial 
character  in  things  ecclesiastical.  It  consists  of  a  long 
narrow  strip  of  land,  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  long, 
running  from  Hyde  Park  down  to  the  Thames,  near  Chelsea 
Hospital,  containing,  in  1840,  a  population,  at  the  lowest 
estimate,  of  twelve  thousand.  Of  these  a  large  number 
were  amongst  the  first  in  London,  as  to  rank,  riches,  and 
education,  while  a  far  larger  number  were  amongst  the 
poorest  and  most  neglected. 

Where  was  the  man  to  be  found  who  could  deal  wisely 
with  both  rich  and  poor,  and  bring  a  powerful  influence  to 
bear  upon  important  work  in  the  new  district?  Bishop 
Blomfield,  with  whom  the  appointment  lay,  chose  for  this 


REV.    W.   J.   E.   BENNETT.  67 

post  the  Rev.  W.  J.  E.  Bennett,  then  Minister  of  Portman 
Chapel,  Baker  Street.  "  Mind  you  make  a  good  Churchman 
of  Lord  John  Russell,"  the  Bishop  said,  when  sending  the 
new  incumbent  to  his  charge.  "  I'll  try,"  was  Mr.  Bennett's 
answer.  He  went  to  St.  Paul's  possessing  the  Bishop's 
entire  confidence,  and  earnestly  desiring  to  carry  out  his 
wishes.  "  I  hope  I  shall  do  as  you  would  desire,"  he  said 
to  the  Bishop,  "  but  if  at  any  time  you  should  be  displeased 
by  my  line  of  action,  /  promise  you  that  I  will  resign  my 
benefice!'  His  ministry  at  St.  Paul's  began  in  1843,  when 
the  new  church  was  consecrated — at  a  critical  and  important 
moment.  For  in  the  preceding  year  the  Bishop  of  London 
had  given  the  famous  Charge  by  which,  on  the  whole,  he 
set  the  seal  of  his  approval  on  the  Tractarian  movement. 
We  have  seen,  in  Mr.  Froude's  letter,  how  the  first  seeds 
of  this  movement  were  sown  ;  now  for  nine  years  it  had 
grown  vigorously,  its  teachers  filling  churches  and  pulpits, 
and  laying  hold  of  the  hearts  of  men.  And  then,  to  use 
Mr.  Bennett's  own  words,  "just  when  the  revival  was  at 
the  height  of  its  popularity,  without  any  of  the  fears  or 
jealousies  which  subsequently  molested  it,  the  Bishop  of 
London,  in  his  Charge  of  1842,  thought  fit  to  introduce  it  to 
the  observance  of  the  clergy  in  terms  of  general  approba- 
tion." Speaking  of  the  celebration  of  divine  service,  the 
rubrics  and  canons,  Bishop  Blomfield  used  these  words : 

Now,  it  is  impossible  to  deny  that  a  great  degree  of  laxity  has 
crept  over  us  in  this  matter,  and  we  are  much  indebted  to  those 
learned  and  pious  men  who  have  forcibly  recalled  our  attention  to 
a  branch  of  duty  too  imperfectly  performed.  In  some  instances, 
indeed,  they  have  gone  beyond  the  line  of  duty  and  of  prudence, 
in  recommending  or  practising  ceremonies  and  forms  not  autho- 
rized by  their  own  Church,  and  in  ascribing  to  others  an  import- 


68  BISHOP  BLOMFIELD'S  CHARGE. 

ance  which  does  not  properly  belong  to  them ;  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  of  their  having  mainly  contributed  to  the  progress  which 
has  been  made  during  the  last  few  years  towards  a  full  and  exact 
observance  of  the  Church's  rubrical  injunctions,  as  well  as  to  a 
better  understanding  of  the  foundations  and  proportions  of  her 
polity,  and  the  nature  and  value  of  her  discipline.  .  .  .  The  truth 
is,  reverend  brethren,  that  until  the  Church's  intentions  are  com- 
pletely fulfilled,  as  to  her  ritual,  we  do  not  know  what  the  Church 
really  is,  nor  what  she  is  capable  of  effecting.  It  is  the  instrument 
by  which  she  seeks  to  realize  and  apply  her  doctrines ;  and  the 
integrity  and  purity  of  the  one  may,  as  to  their  effect,  be  marred 
and  hindered,  in  what  degree  we  know  not,  by  a  defective  obser- 
vance of  the  other. 

Bishop  Blomfield's  Charge  was  the  spark  which  kindled 
materials  ready  and  prepared  into  such  a  fire  as  he  had 
little  thought  of. 

But  upon  none  could  his  words  have  fallen  with  greater 
effect  than  upon  the  young  Incumbent  of  St.  Paul's.  His 
heart  grew  warm  towards  the  system  of  church  restoration 
so  prominently  put  forward  ;  his  reason  was  convinced,  his 
determination  was  fixed,  and  he  was  one  with  whom  no 
wavering  was  possible,  either  in  principle  or  action.  He 
came  to  his  new  work  fresh  and  ardent,  resolved,  in  a 
new  church  and  with  a  new  congregation,  to  carry  out 
the  line  of  action  suggested  by  the  Bishop's  Charge. 

And  seldom  can  any  priest  have  met  with  so  hearty  and 
joyous  and  affectionate  a  response  from  his  flock,  or  left 
a  deeper  mark  behind  him.  But  his  very  success  in 
influencing  the  educated  made  him  the  rather  turn  to  the 
poor  and  ignorant,  who  were  in  danger  of  being  crowded 
out  of  St.  Paul's.  About  six  thousand  of  these  lived  in  the 
district   adjoining  Chelsea  Hospital,  and    at   the   furthest 


MR.   BENNETT'S  APPEAL.  69 

distance  from  the  church  :  two  thousand  poor  children 
needed  education,  and  there  was  room  but  for  four  hundred. 
Mr.  Bennett,  therefore,  set  before  his  richer  parishioners  the 
duty  of  providing  church  and  schools  for  this  poorer  district, 
at  the  cost  of  at  least  ^"14,000.  He  wrote  them  a  letter 
which  even  now,  as  one  reads  it,  stirs  the  heart  like  a 
trumpet  note.  After  telling  them  the  facts  of  the  case,  he 
said  : 

The  existence  of  this  poor  population  now  immediately 
around  you  depends  entirely  upon  yourselves.  You  are  the 
indirect  creators  of  it.  It  is  you  that  have  brought  them  here, 
from  the  magnificent  dwellings  in  which  you  live,  and  the  horses 
and  carriages  which  you  keep,  and  the  many  servants  whom  you 
require  to  minister  to  your  wants.  Belgrave  Square,  Eaton  Place, 
Chesham  Place,  and  Lowndes  Street,  with  others  of  the  like 
grandeur  and  comfort  of  dwelling,  is  the  cause  of  Ebury  Street, 
and  Queen  Street,  and  Clifford's  Row,  and  New  Grosvenor  Place 
being  filled  with  a  population  of  poor  men,  women,  and  children — 
striving,  labouring  men,  working  from  hand  to  mouth,  day  by  day, 
to  sustain  life.  .  .  .  Come  with  me  into  the  lanes  and  streets  of 
this  great  city.  Come  with  me  and  visit  the  dens  of  infamy,  and 
the  haunts  of  vice,  ignorance,  filth,  and  atheism,  with  which  it 
abounds.  Come  with  me  and  read  the  story  of  Dives  and 
Lazarus.  Come  with  me  and  turn  over  the  pages  of  the  Holy 
Book,  by  whose  precepts  your  lives  are,  at  least,  in  theory  guided. 
Then  look  at  your  noble  houses,  and  the  trappings  of  your 
equipages,  the  gold  that  glitters  on  your  sideboards,  and  the 
jewels  that  gleam  on  your  bosoms  ;  then  say  within  your  secret 
conscience,  as  standing  before  the  great  and  terrible  God  at  the 
day  of  judgment,  What  shall  I  do  if  I  give  not  of  the  one,  to 
relieve  the  other  ? 

Only  one  answer  could  be  made  to  such  words  from  a 
man  who  held  the  hearts  of  his  parishioners  in  his  hand — 


70  CONSECRATION  OF  ST.   BARNABAS'. 

in  1847  the  first  stone  of  St.  Barnabas'  Church  was  laid. 
On  St.  Barnabas'  Day,  1850,  it  was  consecrated  by  the 
Bishop  of  London,  who  up  to  this  time  was  kind  and 
cordial  in  every  way,  and  Mr.  Bennett  took  up  his  residence 
in  the  Clergy  House  adjoining  the  church,  in  order  to  live 
amongst  the  poor. 

Of  course,  such  an  aggression  on  old  days  of  sloth  and 
negligence  could  not  take  place  without  a  storm  being 
aroused.  As  early  as  January,  1847,  the  Bishop  wrote  to 
Mr.  Bennett,  saying,  "  I  send  you  a  letter  which  I  have 
received  to-day.  ...  I  really  fear  that  you  are  carrying 
things  too  far."  The  letter  sent  is  too  curious  a  specimen  of 
the  complaints  made  nearly  forty  years  ago  to  be  omitted. 

Knightsbridge,  January  7,  1847. 

My  Lord  Bishop, 

As  a  resident  Protestant  of  Knightsbridge,  and  an  at- 
tendant, with  my  numerous  family,  to  (sic)  St.  Paul's  Church, 
I  have  of  late,  with  grief,  witnessed  those  errors  (as  I  conceive) 
in  the  simple  rules  laid  down  in  our  reformed  Established  Church, 
and  which  I  am  fearful  would  embue  in  my  youthful  family 
Romish  doctrine.  We  have,  for  the  present,  withdrawn  ourselves 
from  attending  the  said  church,  and  humbly  implore  your  Lordship 
to  cause  a  searching  investigation  to  (sic)  the  unhappy  practices 
there,  ere  I  return  with  my  family  to  St.  Paul's. 

I  am,  my  Lord  Bishop,  your  obedient  servant, 

William  Roberts. 
To  the  Bishop  of  London. 

"  William  Roberts  "  was  vainly  sought  for  among  Mr. 
Bennett's  parishioners,  and  his  letter  was  probably  one  of 
many  written  under  fictitious  names  with  reference  to  St. 
Paul's. 

But  more  powerful  aid  to  the  malcontents  was  at  hand. 


THE  "  DURHAM  LETTER."  7 1 

The  publication  of  the  Pope's  Bull,  dated  September  24, 
1850,  endowing  the  Vicars  Apostolic  of  the  Roman  Com- 
munion in  England  with  sees  and  titles,  raised  a  storm  of 
popular  indignation  which  broke  over  the  heads  of  that 
party  in  the  Church  which  had  all  along  been  accused,  more 
or  less,  of  favour  towards  the  Church  of  Rome.  Time  has 
proved  that  the  storm  which  seemed  to  shake  all  Eng- 
land was  a  mere  passing  scud,  but  all  in  authority  were 
influenced  by  what  they  considered  impending  dangers. 
That  the  Bishop  himself  was  alarmed  as  well  as  indignant, 
there  can  be  no  doubt,  while  the  Lord  Mayor  at  his  feast, 
the  Lord  Chancellor  his  guest,  counties  and  parishes  in 
their  meetings,  all  combined  together,  and  fed  the  flame 
and  catered  to  the  popular  will.  Especially  a  letter  from 
the  Prime  Minister,  Lord  John  Russell,  to  the  Bishop  of 
Durham,  described  a  certain  party  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land in  terms  so  bitter,  so  clever,  and  so  plainly  directed 
against  the  movement  in  his  own  parish,  that  it  wTas  pretty 
sure  to  draw  down  the  worst  of  the  storm  on  St.  Barnabas' 
Church,  its  clergy,  and  congregation.  And  so  it  proved. 
On  November  10,  1850,  the  "St.  Barnabas'  riots"  broke 
out,  an  infuriated  mob  filling  the  church  and  ruling  in  the 
street.  The  police,  the  special  constables,  the  entreaties 
of  the  congregation  could  not  restrain  or  keep  them  off; 
while  no  word  was  said  in  deprecation  of  such  scenes  either 
by  Prime  Minister,  Home  Secretary,  police  magistrate,  or 
Bishop.  The  latter  yielded  to  the  storm,  and  after  a  long 
correspondence  with  Mr.  Bennett,  in  which  he  tried  to 
induce  him  to  take  the  same  course,  he  wrote  to  him  on 
November  27,  saying  that  unless  he  could  comply,  sim- 
pliciter  and  ex  animo,  with  certain  requisitions,  he  must  call 


72  PARISHIONERS  OF  ST.  PAUL'S. 

upon  him  to  fulfil  his  offer  of  retiring  from  a  charge  which 
the  Bishop  thought  he  could  not  continue  to  hold  without 
great  injury  to  the  Church. 

It  is  impossible,  even  at  this  distance  of  time,  to  read 
without  a  burning  heart  the  documents  which  give  the 
story  of  those  days,  especially  of  the  persevering,  almost 
passionate,  endeavours  of  the  parishioners  to  retain  the 
pastor  who  had  gained  their  enthusiastic  affection  and  con- 
fidence. A  "  committee  of  the  poor  "  was  formed  to  co- 
operate with  the  "  general  committee,"  and  a  letter  of  the 
parishioners,  signed  by  Sir  John  Harington  as  chairman, 
was  sent  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  in  the  third  paragraph 
of  which  he  was  entreated  to  specify  what  he  wished  to  be 
altered,  omitted,  or  supplied  in  the  services  at  St.  Paul's  and 
St.  Barnabas'. 

We  ask  for  this  information  (the  letter  continued)  because, 
considering  the  important  interests  which  this  removal  of  Mr. 
Bennett  from  this  parish  involves,  we  are  determined,  with  the 
least  possible  delay,  to  take  the  best  legal  advice  as  to  the  means 
of  trying  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts  those  questions  for  which 
your  Lordship  has  pronounced  Mr.  Bennett  to  be  "  unfaithful  to 
the  Church  of  England." 

The  reply  to  the  letter  was  as  follows  : — 

Fulham  Palace,  January  16,  1851. 

Gentlemen, 

The  Bishop  of  London  has  directed  me  to  state,  in 
answer  to  your  letter  of  the  13th  instant,  addressed  to  him  "on 
behalf  of  the  parishioners,  etc.,  "  that  he  declines  acceding  to  the 
request  contained  in  the  third  paragraph  of  that  letter. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  G.  Humphrey. 

Sir  John  E.  Harington,  Bart.  ;  J.  H.  Gibson,  Esq. 


RESIGNATION  OF  MR.   BENNETT.  73 

Nor  were  the  parishioners  more  successful  in  their 
entreaties  to  Mr.  Bennett  to  delay  his  resignation  until 
the  charges  brought  against  him  could  be  tried  before  a 
lawful  tribunal.  He  felt  bound  in  honour  to  redeem  the 
pledge  which  he  had,  perhaps  hastily,  given  to  the  Bishop 
when  chosen  by  him  as  Incumbent  of  St.  Paul's,  and  on 
Lady  Day,  185 1,  he  resigned  his  charge  and  left  St. 
Barnabas'. 

The  rivet  that  binds  the  resignation  (he  wrote  to  Sir  John 
Harington)  is  the  Bishofts  acceptance  of  it,  and  that,  in  his  epis- 
copal judgment,  /  am  guilty  of  unfaithfulness  to  the  Church  of 
England.  .  .  .  Although  we  may  be  forcibly  separated  from  each 
other  by  what  we  cannot  but  consider  an  unjust  decision  of  the 
Bishop,  the  memory  of  our  struggle  during  the  last  few  months 
for  the  freedom  and  privileges  of  our  Church  will  never  be  erased 
from  my  memory. 

Mr.  Bennett  was  thus  forced  to  lay  down  his  arms  in 
the  very  outset  of  an  important  struggle.  What  the  final 
judgment  of  Englishmen  has  been  in  the  matter  may  be 
seen  in  the  present  condition  of  the  churches  on  which  he 
was  the  first  to  leave  his  mark,  and  in  that  of  thousands 
throughout  the  country  which  have  been  more  or  less 
influenced  by  the  spirit  and  the  work  which  he  introduced 
into  his  parish.  The  Rev.  and  Hon.  Robert  Liddell  was 
appointed  as  his  successor.  A  few  days  before  entering  on 
his  charge  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Skinner : 

Beckett  Farringdon,  March  20,  185 1. 

My  dear  Sir, 

Thank  you  very  much  for  your  most  kind  and  most 
Christian  letter.  It  is  a  source  of  deep  thankfulness  and  conso- 
lation to  me  that  I  have  been,  by  God's  good  providence,  brought 


74  CURACY  OF  ST.   BARNABAS'. 

into  contact  with  one  who  will  prove  to  me  so  valuable  a  coadjutor 
as  yourself. 

I  need  hardly  add  that  I  have,  from  the  first  moment  of  my 
acquaintance  with  you,  fully  purposed  to  place  my  first  curacy  at 
your  disposal ;  and  I  pray  that  God  in  His  goodness  may  restore 
you  to  your  full  strength.  I  will  not  on  any  account  tax  your 
physical  strength  at  present,  beyond  what  your  medical  man  and 
your  own  feelings  suggest  as  advisable.  I  shall  have  the  aid  of 
your  mind.  .  .  . 

Believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  very  truly  yours, 

Robert  Liddell. 

The  riots  had  continued  through  the  winter,  and  were 
still  in  full  force  ;  but  Mr.  Skinner  was  by  this  time  so 
much  restored  in  health  that  he  did  not  hesitate  to  accept 
a  post  in  the  very  thick  of  the  battle.  He  was  longing  to 
be  at  work  again,  and  on  Lady  Day,  185 1,  he  became 
Senior  Curate  of  St.  Barnabas'.  The  story  of  the  next  six 
years'  battle,  ended  victoriously  by  the  Privy  Council  judg- 
ment on  March  21,  1857,  has  been  briefly  told  in  the  Life 
of  Charles  Lowder.  It  was  written  exactly  two  years  ago, 
in  Mr.  Skinner's  house,  gleaned  from  documents  and  letters 
collected  by  him  in  the  midst  of  mortal  weakness  and 
suffering.  They  are  still  in  the  writer's  possession,  un- 
touched, as  when  he  left  them  ;  but  the  difficulty  of  going 
over  the  same  ground,  on  different  lines,  is  not  lessened  by 
the  mournful  liberty  which  death  has  given  to  those  whom 
he  loved  and  trusted.  For  he  can  no  longer  be  appealed 
to  for  information  ;  the  ready  help  is  gone,  without  which 
the  story  of  his  friend's  life  could  not  have  been  told, 
and  there  is  no  one  left  to  do  for  him  what  he  did  for 
another. 

Yet  his  life  at  St.  Barnabas'  cannot  be  passed  over.     We 


LAWFUL  FREEDOM.  75 

cannot  tell,  while  still  walking  amid  the  dim  shadows  of 
earth,  what  has  been  really  the  most  important  part  of  a 
man's  work  in  this  life.  Only,  from  time  to  time,  gleams 
from  another  world  seem  to  show  us  that  the  very  work 
and  efforts  of  which  he  thought  least  himself,  have  been 
the  most  powerful  "  to  work  a  wonder  little  meant,"  and 
that  strength  is  never  so  perfected  as  in  weakness. 

But,  humanly  speaking,  his  work  at  this  time  was  the 
most  important  part  of  the  earthly  task  given  to  James 
Skinner ;  for  St.  Barnabas'  was  just  then  in  the  very  fore- 
front of  the  English  Church's  battle,  both  for  freedom  to 
worship  God,  and  against  the  heathenism  of  London.  If 
the  fortress  most  fiercely  attacked  had  not  been,  in  spite 
of  human  failings,  well  and  strongly  held,  the  issue  of 
the  battle  all  along  the  lines  must  have  been  seriously 
changed. 

The  principle  for  which  Mr.  Skinner  fought  was  freedom 
to  use  all  those  lawful  aids  to  devotion  which  he  found  in 
existence  at  St.  Barnabas',  which  the  people  earnestly 
desired,  and  which  he  found  actually  of  important  use  in 
teaching  the  poor  and  ignorant.  If  he  struggled  with  what 
might  seem  even  extreme  pertinacity  for  some  detail,  it 
was  because  he  knew  that  to  yield  a  number  of  small  things 
for  no  better  reason  than  a  vain  effort  to  allay  popular 
outcry,  was  really  to  yield  a  great  principle.  He  knew  also 
what  the  effect  would  be  on  his  congregation,  since  men  do 
not  work  enthusiastically  in  irons.  Much  had  to  be  learned, 
and  has  been  learned,  since  the  days  when  rekindled  faith 
and  reverence  were  seeking  to  find  expression  ;  but  all  the 
same,  he  fought  a  steadfast  battle  for  law  and  Christian 
liberty.     He  carried  out  in  action  what  Bishop  Blomfield 


76  LETTER   TO  MR.   LID  DELL. 

had  laid  down  in  his  Charge,  that  ritual  "  is  the  instrument 
by  which  she  [the  Church]  seeks  to  realize  and  apply  her 
doctrines  ; "  and  he  contended  against  the  spirit  which 
then,  as  now,  would  fain  forbid  to  clergymen  and  their 
congregations  any  expression  of  faith  and  reverence  in 
excess  of  that  measure  which  alone  seemed  reasonable  to 
a  certain  number  of  Englishmen. 

Writing  to  Mr.  Liddell  after  a  month's  experience  in  his 
new  post,  he  says — 

If  the  work  is  to  be  done  at  all,  it  must  be  on  some  one  dis- 
tinct and  complete  principle,  and  by  men  whose  energies  are 
warmed  by  one  common  spirit. 

For  myself,  I  am  willing  to  give  myself  and  all  I  have  un- 
reservedly to  the  service  of  the  Church  in  this  district,  but  before 
I  take  the  step  of  sacrificing  all  other  prospects  and  positions,  I 
must  see  my  way  onward  a  little  in  this ;  there  must  be  some 
definite  and  decided  understanding  between  yourself  as  incumbent 
of  the  parish,  and  me  as  the  responsible  curate  of  this  section 
of  it. 

Our  duty  to  our  parishioners  does  not  seem  to  concern  us  with 
what  has  gone  before.  The  simple  question  is,  Are  their  accus- 
tomed privileges  in  respect  of  the  spiritual  and  material  constitution 
of  the  Church  of  St.  Barnabas  within  the  law  and  order  of  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer?  If  they  are  not,  cut  them  off;  if  they 
are,  keep  them  up. 

I  cannot  but  think  that  upon  such  a  general  basis  as  this  we 
might  work  on  most  successfully ;  and,  with  a  clear  and  defensible 
principle  before  us,  we  should  have  a  reasonable  answer  on  every 
side  to  him  that  asked  us. 

To  take  an  instance  or  two.  First,  in  a  material  point.  I  will 
pass  over  the  cross  on  the  altar,  which  is  not  decided,  but  will 
shortly  be  settled  probably,  and  the  candlesticks,  which  are  clearly 
decided ;  and  I  will  take  the  change  of  coverings  for  the  altar 
table.     The    Church   has    ordained  variety  of   seasons,  and  the 


USE   OF  RITUAL.  J  J 

commemoration  of  saints  and  martyrs.     She  evidently,  therefore, 
enjoins  us  to  teach  their  observance. 

In  this  Church  of  St.  Barnabas,  the  usage  has  been  to  turn  the 
order  about  a  covering  for  the  altar  into  a  lesson ;  not  to  make 
that  order  a  mere  form,  but  to  allow  nothing  in  the  church  which 
teaches  nothing ;  to  make  the  covering  of  the  altar,  therefore, 
carry  to  the  eye  the  same  lesson  which  the  announcement  of  the 
minister  before  the  sermon  carries  to  the  ear.  The  usage  is  nothing 
but  the  fulfilment  of  the  Church's  order  through  another  sense 
which  is  very  acute  and  susceptible,  and,  especially  with  the  poor, 
capable  of  most  valuable  service. 

When  the  poor  of  St.  Barnabas',  therefore,  see  a  white  covering 
on  the  altar,  they  remember  that  they  are  keeping  some  great  feast 
connected  with  our  Blessed  Lord's  life  and  history.  When  they 
see  a  red  covering,  they  remember  that  they  are  commemorating 
some  glorious  martyrdom,  or  keeping  a  feast  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
When  the  covering  is  green,  they  are  reminded  that  the  season  is 
ordinary ;  when  violet,  that  it  is  Lent ;  when  black,  that  it  is  a 
funeral  day,  or  the  darkest  day  in  the  Church's  year.  Thus  what 
looks  so  trivial  a  direction  of  the  Church's  law  becomes  a  great 
help  and  remembrancer.  We  cannot  afford  to  lose  any  helps  to 
devotion.     The  most  fervent  among  us  are  not  fervent  enough. 

But  the  altar-cloths  of  St.  Barnabas'  have  an  interest  over  and 
above  their  usefulness.  They  have  been  offered  solemnly  to  God 
— costly  ornaments  for  His  Board,  for  the  use  of  a  Free  Church 
chiefly  designed  for  the  poor ;  deeply  loved  and  valued,  and  prized 
with  an  honest  pride,  by  the  poor,  and  by  ■all  who  worship  with 
them.  And  the  poor  claim  that  their  altar-cloths  should  not  be 
set  aside ;  that  the  same  principle  which  allows  their  neighbours 
to  have  a  change  of  cloth  on  Good  Friday,  should  suffer  their 
privilege  of  a  change  on  Easter  Day  to  be  continued  to  them. 

Now  take  the  service.  Is  the  choral  mode  a  lawful  mode,  or 
is  it  not? 

The  usage  of  St.  Barnabas'  Church  is  choral.  The  use  of  it 
in  the  mother  churches  of  the  country  proves  it  to  be  our 
Church's   highest  standard  of  worship.     The   people  here  have 


78  RIGHTS  OF  THE   CONGREGATION. 

been  trained  to  that  highest  standard,  and  they  claim  to  keep 
where  they  have  been  trained.    They  claim  not  to  be  forced  back. 

It  would  be  almost  wicked  in  us,  were  it  not  impossible  for  us, 
to  attempt  to  stop  this  fervour  and  love  of  a  warm  and  real  and 
hearty  service  to  God.  We  may  raise  people's  minds  upwards 
and  onward,  but  we  can  never  without  danger  drive  them  back- 
ward and  downward. 

I  would  act  in  stern  and  uncompromising  fidelity  to  the 
Church's  law.  I  would  discountenance  anything  and  everything 
which  savoured  of  unfaithfulness  in  the  remotest  measure  to  the 
plain  will  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  I  would  keep  in 
wholesome  check  through  the  pulpit  all  fervid  and  haply  morbid 
imaginations.  But  I  would  bear  in  mind  that  there  will  be  always 
more  danger  of  false  tones  and  forms  of  mind  where  there  is  no 
vent  afforded  for  every  true  and  loyal  and  right  and  healthy  feeling. 
For  myself,  I  am  at  your  service.  But  I  must  know  for  certain 
on  what  principle  we  are  to  work.  For  though  I  could  go  to- 
morrow and  work  upward  within  the  simplest  cabin  as  a  missionary 
'mid  an  untrained  multitude,  without  the  comforts  of  a  beautiful 
church  or  rich  chancel  or  choral  service,  I  could  not  work  a  day 
downward  in  such  a  district  as  this,  where  my  first  labour  must 
needs  be  to  unteach  the  people  the  lesson  of  love  and  obedience 
to  the  Prayer-Book  which  they  have  learnt  so  well.  The  same 
line  which  would  deter  me  from  beginning  choral  service,  or  altar- 
cloths,  or  surplice,  or  anything  out  of  usage  in  any  other  parish, 
would  compel  me  to  keep  them  here,  where  the  true  and  highest 
standard  of  our  Church's  law  and  practice  has  been  established, 
and  is  fixed  in  the  hearts  of  the  congregation. 

This  long  letter  has  been  given  because  it  lays  down,  in 
Mr.  Skinner's  own  words,  the  lines  upon  which  he  fought ; 
and  it  is  not  unprofitable  to  review  the  grounds  of  our 
position,  even  now  when  those  things  are  common  in  most 
churches  which  at  St.  Barnabas  aroused  such  fury  amongst 
the  mob  that  order  was  only  preserved  during  divine  service 


MR.   LIDDELLS  POSITION.  79 

by  keeping  a  large  body  of  gentlemen  on  the  roll  of  sworn 
special  constables ;  some  of  whom  were  posted  Sunday 
after  Sunday  by  the  chancel  gates  to  prevent  the  ring- 
leaders from  breaking  into  the  choir.  Mr.  Liddell's  wish 
was  to  remove  the  occasion  for  some  of  the  outcry  by  sup- 
pressing all  practices  at  St.  Barnabas'  which  exceeded  those 
in  use  at  the  mother  church.  In  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  H. 
Montagu  Villiers,  ended  but  a  few  days  before  his  death, 
Mr.  Skinner  says — 

The  deliberate  choice  of  Mr.  Liddell,  after  fifteen  years  at 
Barking,  to  fill  the  post  from  which,  in  plain  terms,  Mr.  Bennett 
was  dismissed,  is  ample  evidence  on  the  Bishop's  part,  not  only  of 
the  personal  regard,  but  of  the  estimate,  as  to  concessions  to  the 
episcopal  view  of  the  difficulties  of  the  position,  with  which  the 
new  incumbent  was  credited  at  London  House.  It  need  hardly 
be  said,  therefore,  that  when  he  entered  upon  the  charge  of  SS. 
Paul  and  Barnabas  in  March,  185 1,  at  a  time  of  intense  anxiety 
and  distress  in  the  parish,  as  well  as  of  politico-religious  excite- 
ment in  the  country,  he  came  blessed,  and  not  a  little  em- 
barrassed, by  the  confidence  of  Bishop  Blomfield,  whom  from  his 
boyhood  he  had  learnt  to  love  and  admire.  .  .  . 

The  battle  which  began  in  1850  was  fought  for  the  principle  of 
rites  and  ceremonies  in  public  worship.  .  .  . 

The  policy  of  the  Bishop  and,  so  far  as  they  went,  his  instruc- 
tions to  Mr.  Liddell  were  on  the  side  of  suppression,  even  in 
things  so  obviously  reasonable  as  choral  service  and  the  beautify- 
ing of  the  holy  place  with  flowers  at  high  festivals ;  and  if  Mr. 
Liddell  had  been  an  instrument  in  his  diocesan's  hands,  he  might 
very  soon  have  effected  the  obliteration  of  Mr.  Bennett's  work,  to 
the  general  discontent,  not  of  a  party,  but  of  the  parish  all  round. 
But  his  attitude  being  invariably  like  Orlando's  in  "As  You  Like  It," 

"  Let  gentleness  my  strong  enforcement  be  " 

he  tided  over  each  difficulty  as  it  arose,  and  eventually  overcame 
it.  .  .  . 


80  ALTAR    VESTMENTS. 

I  well  remember  his  first  opposition  to  my  own  administration 
as  his  "  Lieutenant "  (so  he  always  kindly  called  me)  at  St. 
Barnabas' ;  and,  as  it  illustrates  his  general  line  of  loving 
generosity,  I  will  record  it  fully. 

When  we  took  up  our  charge  in  the  middle  of  Lent,  185 1,  the 
altars  of  the  two  churches  were  vested  in  violet.  But,  when 
Easter  arrived,  the  vestment  had  to  be  changed,  and  the  question 
arose  to  what  colour.  The  Bishop  had  instructed  the  new  in- 
cumbent to  go  back  to  the  uniformity  of  a  red  cloth  for  all  seasons 
alike ;  and  his  resolution  to  do  so  at  St.  Paul's  was  finally  made. 
But  the  circumstances  at  St.  Barnabas'  were,  I  ventured  to  think, 
so  different  that  I  pleaded  for  our  liberty  to  act  independently ; — 
and  the  more  because  the  priest  in  charge  there  had  never  been 
brought  under  any  pledges  to  the  Bishop. 

A  complete  set  of  the  various  altar  vestments  suited  to  the 
seasons  had  been  solemnly  offered  and  accepted  by  the  faithful, 
and  the  red  one,  not  being  plain,  but  specially  designed  for  Whit- 
suntide and  Martyrs'  Days,  with  the  proper  symbols  upon  it,  could 
not  possibly  be  used  at  Easter  without  an  impropriety  which 
would  look  nothing  short  of  absurd.  I  therefore  entreated  to  be 
allowed  to  put  on  the  proper  covering  of  white,  in  exchange  for 
violet,  if  any  change  was  to  be  made  at  all.  Four  or  five  times  in 
the  course  of  that  Holy  Week  I  had  to  return  unsuccessful  from 
the  charge;  the  incumbent  had  undertaken  to  the  Bishop  to  go 
back  to  the  plain  red  covering,  and  what  he  should  do  at  St. 
Paul's  must  be  done  at  St.  Barnabas'. 

Within  ten  minutes  of  beginning  our  first  Evensong  for  Easter 
on  Saturday  night,  I  made  one  last  effort,  which  was  effectual  for 
us,  thank  God,  without  shaking  the  consistency  of  Mr.  Liddell. 
"  Well,  my  dear  Skinner,"  he  concluded,  "  I  must  leave  it  to  your 
discretion."  "  Thank  you,"  I  replied.  "  I  hope  I  am  not  abusing 
your  generosity,  but  my  mind  is  made  up;  our  altar  shall  wear 
the  white." 

Mr.  Liddell's  generosity  also  gave  Mr.  Skinner  the 
power  of  choosing  the  men  who  were  to  work  with  him  at 


LETTER   TO  REV.    CHARLES  R   LOWDER.  8 1 

St.  Barnabas'.     He  writes,  in  answer  to  the  first  letter  he 
ever  received  from  Mr.  Lowder : 

Parsonage  House,  St.  Barnabas',  Pimlico,  June  iS,  1851. 

My  dear  Sir, 

I  ought  much  sooner  to  have  replied  to  your  most  ex- 
cellent letter,  of  date  St.  Barnabas'  Day ;  but  pressure  of  engage- 
ments of  a  very  engrossing  kind  must  plead  my  excuse. 

I  am  the  advertiser  A.  B.,  and  the  position  which  I  hold,  and 
in  which  assistance  is  required,  is  the  senior  and  responsible  curate 
of  this  very  important  and  delicate  charge  of  St.  Barnabas',  Pimlico. 

Mr.  Liddell,  the  incumbent,  is  resident  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
parish,  and,  devoting  himself  mainly  to  St.  Paul's,  Wilton  Place,  is 
kind  enough  to  commit  the  management  of  this  district  to  me. 

I  am  anxious  to  work  out  the  great  objects  which  Mr.  Bennett 
had  at  heart,  and  for  which  such  rare  appliances  are  by  him  be- 
queathed to  our  hands ;  and  for  this  purpose,  I  regard  as  first  and 
foremost  that  combination  of  energetic  counsel  and  unity  of 
action  which  alone  the  collegiate  life  enables  us  to  supply. 

Both  Mr.  Liddell  and  myself  are  much  pleased  alike  with  the 
substance  and  the  tone  of  your  letter,  and  we  cannot  but  lean  to 
the  hope  that  in  such  a  one  as  yourself  we  should  find  a  fellow- 
workman  of  like  mind,  whose  zeal,  and  piety,  and  earnestness 
would  comfort  and  cheer  our  hearts,  and  bring  blessing  upon  our 
work.  .  .  . 

It  would  greatly  facilitate  our  negotiation,  could  you  make  it 
convenient  to  call  on  me  here  on  an  early  day,  and  if,  meantime, 
you  would  turn  over  in  your  mind  one  or  two  points,  about  which 
we  might  have  further  converse  when  we  meet.  .  .  . 

If  you  are  in  town  and  could  so  come  down  here  as  to  enable 
me  to  have  the  benefit  of  your  help  on  Sunday  next,  in  the  morn- 
ing service,  I  shall  be  much  pleased. 

Meantime,  believe  me  to  be,  dear  sir, 

Your  very  faithful  brother, 

Ja.  Skinner. 

The  Rev.  C.  F.  Lowder. 

G 


82  HOUSEHOLD  AT  ST.   BARNABAS'. 

St.  Barnabas'  Parsonage,  July  8,  185 1. 

My  dear  Mr.  Lowder, 

Pressure  of  work  has  alone  hindered  me  from  saying  how 
much  I  thank  and  bless  you  for  your  truly  Christian  and  most 
delightful  letter.  My  heart  quite  warms  towards  you  as  I  read 
your  earnest  words  of  zeal  for  the  work  which  lies  before  us  in 
poor  St.  Barnabas'.  I  see  also  a  humble  spirit  of  faith  and  love 
and  meekness,  from  which  I  anticipate  not  only  God's  blessing  on 
your  exertions  here,  but  a  lesson  for  myself,  which  I  trust  I  shall 
have  grace  to  learn. 

I  hope  you  will  bear  with  my  many  infirmities,  and  not  be 
discouraged  by  the  proofs  which  you  will  probably  discover  of  the 
sad  measure  in  which  I  fall  behind  you  in  almost  everything. 
One  source  of  unspeakable  comfort  is,  the  entire  congeniality  of 
sentiment  which  I  know  exists  between  us.  If  we  work  and  pray 
and  strive  together,  surely  we  shall  not  miss  the  aim  of  our  labours. 
May  God  be  with  us. 

Mr.  Poole  has  arrived,  and  is  now  with  us — a  very  nice,  quiet, 
earnest,  right-minded  young  man. 

And  now,  my  dear  brother,  when  can  you  come  to  us  ?  I  am 
yearning  to  have  you  at  once,  for  we  cannot  set  our  machinery  on 
foot,  or  attain  that  method  or  coherence  in  our  plans  which  is 
essential  to  their  success,  till  we  get  our  staff  together,  and  I  want 
your  counsel  in  many  things.  .  .  . 

Ever  affectionately  yours, 

Ja.  Skinner. 

Rev.  C.  F.  Lowder. 

Mr.  Lowder  came  into  residence  at  St.  Barnabas'  in 
September  of  the  same  year.  One  wing  of  the  college  had 
been  built  for  the  assistant  clergy,  containing  a  sitting-room 
and  bedroom  for  each.  There  was  a  common  dining-room 
for  all,  including  the  senior  curate  and  his  family,  and  Mr. 
Lowder  speedily  became  the  favourite  playmate  of  the 
little  daughter  of  the  house  and  of  her  cousins. 


"HOLY  WAR   OF  BELGRAVIAP  83 

He  was  always  up  to  some  fun  and  mischief  (one  of  them  has 
said,  in  recalling  those  days).  We  used  to  play  in  a  court  upon 
which  his  rooms  looked,  and  one  day  I  remember  his  calling  to 
us  from  his  window,  and  when  we  rushed  over  expecting  sugar- 
plums, we  received  instead  a  gentle  shower  from  a  watering-pot. 
We  were,  of  course,  in  shrieks  of  delight  at  the  joke,  which  is  more 
than  our  nurse  was. 

The  clergy  of  St.  Barnabas'  had  more  than  enough  to  do 
in  their  work  amongst  the  poor  around  the  church,  which 
had  been  specially  built  for  the  poor,  without  hindrances 
thrown  in  their  way  by  attacks  and  misrepresentations  on 
all  sides.  Letters  in  the  Times,  headed  "  The  Holy  War  of 
Belgravia,"  stated  that  the  service  at  St.  Barnabas'  was  "  in 
exact  imitation  of  the  ceremonial  of  Roman  Catholics,  less 
the  bells  and  the  incense."  *  Nor  were  there  those  wanting, 
even  among  so-called  High  Church  clergymen,  who, 
disapproving  of  anything  not  precisely  on  the  model  which 
they  had  set  up  for  themselves,  were  forward  to  bring  what 
they  disliked  before  the  Bishops.  These  private  represen- 
tations and  misrepresentations  had  their  effect,  and  were 
the  source  of  endless  difficulty  and  trouble  to  Mr.  Skinner 
and  his  co-curates.  It  is  certainly  curious,  at  this  time,  to 
find  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Burgon  vehemently  protesting  against 
such  practices  as  "  holding  up  your  hand  in  the  air  while  you 
pronounce  the  Benediction,"  the  eastward  position,  and  the 
vergers  wearing  cassocks,  as  being  "unauthorized  innova- 
tions or  worse,"  and  as  "  savouring  more  of  Rome  than  of 
England."  The  following  statement  in  a  leading  article  of 
the  Morning  Post  of  July  20,  185 1,  shows  how  absolutely 
without  reasonable  cause  was  the  storm  raging  just  then 
around  St.  Barnabas' : — 

*  The  Times,  July  14,  1851. 


84  DIFFICULTIES. 

The  opponents  of  these  things  have  sought  to  bring  them  into 
popular  hatred,  by  calling  them  "  Popery."  Now  this,  at  all  events, 
is  something  more  than  an  exaggeration — it  is  an  error — a  delusion, 
and  the  propagation  of  it  works  a  great  injustice.  For  whether 
the  practices  objected  to  be  right  or  wrong,  excusable  or  inexcus- 
able, they  certainly  do  not  constitute  Popery,  and  he  must  have  a 
very  light  and  trivial,  not  to  say  ignorant,  notion  of  the  tremendous 
evil  of  Popery  who  allows  himself  to  think  that  a  manner  of 
worship  and  prayer  not  forbidden  by  the  Church  of  England  is  to 
be  identified  with  that  system  of  error  against  which  the  Church 
of  England  so  vehemently  protests.  That  such  services  as  are 
objected  to  in  certain  churches  of  the  parish  of  St.  George's, 
Hanover  Square,  are  not  forbidden  by  the  Church  of  England 
appears  from  the  directions  of  the  Prayer-Book,  which  command 
the  Litany  and  all  the  Creeds  to  be  either  sung  or  said,  plainly 
allowing  a  choice  between  the  two ;  and,  indeed,  the  services 
objected  to  do  not  differ  from  the  usual  services  in  English 
cathedrals,  except  in  the  more  frequent  celebration  of  the  Com- 
munion, in  the  frequent  collection  of  alms  (at  St.  Barnabas'),  even 
when  there  is  not  a  Communion,  and  a  far  more  energetic,  earnest, 
emphatic  manner  on  the  part  of  the  clergy  and  the  congregation 
than  is  usual  in  our  cathedrals. 

The  church  and  college  (to  quote  a  few  words  from  the  Life  of 
Charles  Lowder)  were  in  a  difficult  and  anomalous  position  ;  not 
independent  as  now,  but  legally  a  chapel-of-ease  to  St.  Paul's, 
Knightsbridge,  served  by  curates,  under  its  incumbent,  while  its 
whole  constitution  and  raison  d'etre  tended  to  force  the  clergy  who 
ministered  there  into  an  independent  course  of  action. 

Besides  this,  both  Mr.  Liddell  and  his  lieutenant  at  St. 
Barnabas'  worked  under  considerable  pressure,  of  different 
kinds — the  latter  from  the  congregation,  who  demanded  that 
he  should  guard  the  lawful  liberty  which  they  had  made  up 
their  minds  to  preserve  ;  the  former  from  his  Bishop,  from  a 


LETTER    TO  MR.   LID  DELL.  85 

large  number  of  his  congregation,  and  from  other  powerful 
influences  brought  to  bear  upon  him.  He  wrote  to  Mr. 
Skinner  in  March,  1852,  laying  down  twelve  points  in  which 
customs  at  St.  Barnabas'  were  to  be  changed.  "  My  object 
in  them,"  he  wrote,  "  is  to  assimilate  the  services  at  St. 
Barnabas'  as  closely  as  possible  to  those  at  St.  Paul's." 

A  long  correspondence  followed,  full  of  entreaties,  on 
the  part  of  Mr.  Skinner  and  Mr.  Lowder  especially,  that 
their  people  might  be  left  to  the  free  exercise  of  customs 
which  had  become  dear  to  them.  For  amongst  things 
prohibited  were,  chanting  the  Sanctus  and  Gloria  in  excelsis, 
the  clergy  and  choir  turning  to  the  east  at  the  Gloria,  and 
the  placing  of  flowers  at  any  season  upon  the  altar.  Mr. 
Skinner  writes  to  Mr.  Liddell  on  March  10,  1852  : 

.  .  .  The  principle  upon  which  I  avowed  my  intention  to  act 
in  this  post  .  .  .  which  I  drew  out  at  the  time  in  writing,  and  to 
which  you  signified  your  assent,  was  this  :  all  change,  for  change's 
sake,  is  evil.  We  proceeded,  as  soon  as  we  knew  our  definite  line, 
to  act  out  this  principle.  Wherever  positive  duty  to  the  Church 
of  England  did  not  require  a  change  in  the  manner  of  conducting 
the  services  of  St.  Barnabas',  we  agreed  to  conduct  them  as  they 
had  been  from  the  beginning. 

The  service  here  is  conducted  now  exactly  as  you  have  seen 
it  conducted,  and  as  you  have  conducted  it  yourself.  .  .  . 

I  wish  with  all  my  heart  that  I  did  not  seem  to  be  at  variance 
with  you  on  this  subject.  You  will  believe  me  when  I  say  that 
it  is  with  the  greatest  pain  that  I  am  compelled,  by  a  sense  of 
duty,  to  entreat  you  to  leave  us  as  we  are.  You  ask  us  to  change 
certain  things  which  never  yet  have  been  changed.  And  for  what 
gain?  No  principle  is  attained  by  the  sacrifice,  and  a  very 
intelligible  principle  is  lost :  and  what  will  be  its  effect  ? 

As  to  any  change  in  the  Communion  Service ;  I  cannot 
believe  that  you  wish  us  to  undo  every  advance  to  method  and 


86  REFUSAL   TO    WORK  DOWNWARDS. 

coherency,  to  which,  with  much  pains  and  care,  we  have  but  just 
arrived.  .  .  . 

The  only  consistent  thing,  short  of  our  preseiit  rule,  would  be 
to  give  up  the  whole  choral  service,  and  have  the  old  reading 
type  restored. 

You  wish  my  difference  with  you,  if  any,  to  be  submitted  to 
the  Bishop.  I  heartily  pray  it  may  not  have  come  to  such  an 
issue  yet.  You  know  full  well  as  I  the  result  of  the  Bishop's 
arbitration,  and  that  he  would  gladly  seize  any  opportunity,  which 
he  would  be  the  last  to  invite,  to  overthrow  our  whole  work  in 
this  place,  and  commit  it  to  other  direction.  And  this  I  say  with 
all  duty  and  respect  for  the  Bishop,  who  has  different  private  views 
of  the  ritual  of  the  Church  from  ourselves,  but  who  has  no  wish 
to  force  those  views  on  others. 

Yet  if  you  give  him  the  opportunity,  he  will  not  be  slow  to 
improve  it.  I  have  too  high  a  sense  of  your  fairness  and 
generosity,  however,  to  suppose  for  an  instant  that  you  are  now 
resolved  to  force  us  back  from  the  ground  we  have  already  gained^ 
and  which  you  yourself  have  helped  us  to  win;  or,  in  other  words, 
that  you  will  be  willing  to  run  the  risk  of  overturning  the  work 
which  God  has  hitherto  prospered  in  our  hands. 

We  trust  we  are  acting  out  of  no  self-will,  but  solely  from  a 
deep  sense  of  duty,  gathered  from  a  close  and  intimate  con- 
nection with  our  people,  in  this  declaration  of  our  determination, 
God  helping  us,  to  stand  or  fall  with  their  and  our  own  rightful 
claim  to  have  continued  to  us,  unimpaired,  the  blessings  of  God's 
worship  in  its  external  type  and  inward  beauty,  with  which  now 
He  has  been  pleased  to  gift  us. 

I  can  answer  to  God  we  have  but  one  single  aim — to 
strengthen  the  foundations  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  hearts 
of  our  people,  and  to  bring  forth  true,  loyal,  and  loving  fruits  of 
patience  and  faith  from  the  principles  in  which  they  have  been 
trained.  These  principles  may  be,  in  some  sort,  different  from 
those  held  by  many  of  your  excellent  people  at  St.  Paul's ;  they 
may  take  a  larger  and  wider  view  of  Church  membership,  and 
recognize  deep  spiritual  things  where  others  see  only  empty  and 


MR.   LID  DELL'S  REPLY.  %J 

barren  forms  :  but  these  principles  of  the  St.  Barnabas'  people  are 
not  therefore  wrong,  because  they  are  not  precisely  the  same  as 
the  principles  of  the  St.  Paul's  people.  And  I  would  earnestly 
hope  that  we  who  are  called  to  minister  to  both  may,  by  God's 
grace,  build  up  both  in  the  true  faith  and  fear  of  God,  without 
cramping  ourselves,  and  embarrassing  and  perplexing  consciences 
with  positive  unalterable  laws  of  uniformity,  which  will  infallibly 
offend  both,  and  hinder  our  work  for  their  souls. 

In  reply,  Mr.  Liddell  writes  : — 

March  n,  1852. 

Let  me  hasten,  my  dear  and  truly  valued  friend,  to  relieve 
your  mind  of  needless  pain. 

What  I  have  said  to  you  in  all  our  intercourse,  that  I  have 
meant.  I  love  you  for  your  earnestness,  I  value  you  for  your 
ability,  and  I  know  not  now  where  I  could  have  found  a  man,  on 
the  whole,  so  well  qualified  as  yourself  for  the  post  which  you 
fill.  But  this  does  not  imply  that  I  think  we  are  identical  in  all 
matters  of  opinion,  and  that  you  may  not  see  some  things  with  a 
higher  amount  of  mental  and  spiritual  colouring  than  I  do. 

The  very  circumstance  of  my  always  coming  straight  to  you  to 
consult  about  measures,  shows  that  I  consider  you  my  head  and 
responsible  curate — my  lieutenant — and  I  believe  it  is  most  for 
the  welfare  of  the  parish  that  I  should,  in  all  ordinary  matters, 
leave  you  as  free  as  possible. 

But  there  are  things  in  which  my  parishioners,  the  Church  at 
large,  and  our  diocesan  will  and  must  hold  me,  not  you,  responsible, 
and  in  these,  as  now,  I  must  act  to  the  best  of  my  own  judgment. 
As  to  the  Bishop  who  placed  me  here,  I  owe  it  to  him  to  satisfy 
his  mind,  to  the  utmost  of  my  power,  upon  all  points  connected 
with  the  parish.  I  do  not  expect  to  be  able  to  satisfy  him  entirely; 
but  I  feel  that,  at  any  rate,  the  only  way  for  me  to  maintain  my 
present  position  is  to  be  able  to  assert  that,  barring  the  difference 
of  the  choral  service,  the  usages  of  the  two  churches  under  my 
care  are  the  same. 


88  LIBERTY  IN  NON-ESSENTIALS. 

A  few  days  later,  Mr.  Skinner  writes  to  Mr.  Liddell : 

I  am  most  grateful  to  you  for  your  kind  note ;  and  the  kind 
terms  of  it  to  myself  personally  are  just  what  I  knew  you  would 
be  forward  to  express  if  you  felt  them.  They  greatly  relieve  my 
mind. 

You  judged  most  wisely,  I  think,  that  there  could,  and  that 
there  ought  to  be  no  strict  uniformity  between  two  churches,  the 
very  design  of  which  most  certainly  was  that  they  should  be 
adapted  to  two  very  different  and  distinct  classes  of  mind,  equally 
held,  thank  God,  within  the  pale  of  the  English  Church. 

I  feel  strongly  that  the  Church  at  large,  the  parish,  and  the 
Bishop  look  to  you  and  not  to  me.  I  feel  also  strongly  that  you 
must  act  to  the  best  of  your  own  judgment. 

Forgive  me  if  I  have  seemed  to  allow  my  earnest  desire  to 
express  myself  clearly  to  outrun  the  measure  of  deference  and 
respect  which  I  most  heartily  feel  for  you,  and  most  earnestly 
desire  to  show. 

We  do  most  earnestly  desire  to  be  an  abiding  help  and  comfort 
to  you  ;  but  we  should  cease  to  be  that  comfort  if  we  yielded  our 
conscientious  sense  of  its  first  and  most  necessary  ingredient — a 
firm  and  persevering  adherence  to  the  one  line  of  administration 
upon  which  we  set  out,  and  which  hitherto  God  has  been  pleased 
to  bless.  We  earnestly  pray  that  you  will  be  induced  to  consider 
our  sincere  and  hearty  desire  to  go  on  as  we  have  begun. 

36,  Wilton  Crescent,  Saturday  night,  March  13. 

My  dear  Skinner, 

I  fear  I  gave  you  distress  in  my  conversation  to-day, 
and  as  I  know  that  a  loving  word  is  never  thrown  away  upon  a 
loving  heart,  I  write  a  brief  note  to  beseech  you  not  to  suppose 
that  I  can  for  one  moment  forget  the  self-denying  zeal  and  devo- 
tion which  you  and  your  fellow-labourers  are  displaying  day  and 
night  in  every  portion  of  your  ministerial  work.  Believe  me,  I  do 
appreciate  it  thoroughly ;  and  it  is  my  desire  to  uphold  you  in  all 
essential  matters,   which  prompts  me  to  avoid  all  possible  dis- 


LETTERS  FROM  MR.   BENNETT.  89 

crepancies    between   our  respective   churches    in   non-essentials. 
God  bless  you  all. 

Believe  me,  my  dear  Skinner, 

Your  affectionate  brother  in  Christ, 
Robert  Liddell. 

The  notes  which  follow,  from  the  present  venerable  Vicar 
of  Frome,  are  interesting,  especially  now  that  in  his  new 
parish  he  has  overcome  all  opposition,  and  peacefully 
carried  out  far  more  than  he  ever  attempted  to  introduce 
in  his  London  parish. 

32,  Connaught  Square,  Whit-Monday,  1851. 
My  dear  Sir, 

My  intention  was  to  call  on  you  before  I  departed, 
but  I  have  been  so  hindered  by  a  multitude  of  troubles  and 
arrangements  necessarily  attending  my  departure.  May  God's 
blessing  be  with  you  in  your  works,  and  may  you  have  grace  to 
perfect  the  work  which  it  pleased  God  to  permit  me  only  to  begin. 
I  have  planted,  you  must  water,  and  God  will  give  the 
increase — and  He  alone. 

I  shall  be  far  away  in  Germany  on  St.  Barnabas'  Day,  but  I 
shall  worship  somewhere  in  the  great  fold  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  my  prayers  will  go  up  for  the  poor  of  St.  Barnabas' — never  to 
be  forgotten.  If  you  have  an  opportunity,  tell  them  so.  Peace 
be  with  them. 

Yours  faithfully, 

Wm.  J.  E.  Bennett. 

The  Annunciation,  1S52. 

My  dear  Mr.  Skinner, 

This  is,  as  you  know,  the  anniversary  of  my  departure 
from  St.  Barnabas'.  I  am  come  to  communicate  with  you  this 
morning,  to  express  my  thankfulness  to  God  for  the  preservation 
of  so  much  to  the  Church  through  Mr.  Liddell's  and  your  means, 
and  to  pray  my  intercessional  prayer  at  the  altar  where  once  I 


go  COMPLAINTS   TO    THE  BISHOP. 

ministered,  that  it  may  be  put  into  the  heart  of  Mr.  Liddell  and 
yourself  still  to  go  on  in  wisdom  and  meekness  in  the  path  already 
begun ;  so  that  by-and-by — not  for  either  one  or  other  of  us,  but 
for  the  Church  and  poor — Christ's  kingdom  may  prevail. 

My  faith  is,  even  yet,  that  the  time  will  come  when  greater 
light  than  as  yet  we  see  will  be  vouchsafed  to  all  of  us,  and  while 
some  go  on  in  zeal  and  suffer,  others  will  be  melted  and  turn 
to  the  Church,  whose  love  and  faith  they  yet  know  not.  But  the 
abandonment  of  self  is  the  principle.  I  feel  that  I,  for  my  part, 
have  failed  most  miserably  in  this.  May  God  forgive  in  me  all 
that  is  past,  and  direct  me  better  at  Frome.  I  feel  sure  I  may  ask 
your  prayers  in  return  for  my  guidance  there,  for  there  is  much 
that  is  full  of  fear  to  me. 

Bishop  Blomfield  was  also  assailed  by  petitions  against 
the  worship  at  St.  Barnabas',  from  those  who  had  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  it.  The  character  of  some  of  these 
petitions  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  letter  : — 

St.  Barnabas',  March  15,  1852. 

My  dear  Mr.  Liddell, 

I  have  made  it  a  duty  to  institute  every  inquiry  about  the 
persons  who  have  signed  the  petition  to  the  Bishop,  and  I  hope 
you  will  press  upon  his  lordship  how  very  far  from  worthy  such 
fifteen  names  are  to  represent  in  any  sense  whatever  the  feeling  of 
the  St.  Barnabas'  district  and  congregation.  They  are  a  few  petty 
tradespeople,  living  in  one  street,  almost  adjoining  each  other,  who 
from  the  very  beginning  have  steadily  set  themselves  to  oppose  the 
Church.  They  are  the  very  same  individuals  who  instigated  the 
former  disturbances  at  St.  Barnabas',  and  whom  the  complete 
uprooting  of  our  entire  work  would  alone  satisfy. 

The  great  majority  of  them  are  persons  of  Dissenting  opinions 
in  religion,  who  are  either  formally  joined  to  some  sect  or  other, 
or  who  frequent  habitually  the  worship  of  the  meeting-house. 
They  are  none  of  them  frequenters  of  St.  Barnabas'.  They  are 
persons  on  whom  the  burden  and  weight  of  religious  responsibili- 


BISHOP  BLOMFIELD'S   VISIT.  gi 

ties  cannot  possibly  bear  with  all  the  force  they  would  represent, 
for  they  are  precisely  the  very  persons  who  make  Grosvenor  Road 
a  disgrace  to  our  district. 

I  earnestly  trust  the  Bishop  will  not  suffer  our  work  to  be  dis- 
turbed on  such  testimony,  or  the  great  body  of  witnesses  whicli 
might  be  called  on  the  other  side  to  be  overlooked.  I  take  this 
opportunity  also  of  saying  that  I  hope  you  will  assure  his  lordship 
of  the  very  sincere  desire  by  which  we  are  actuated  of  discharging 
our  duty  in  this  place,  within  the  plain  law  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  according  to  the  truest  loyalty  and  love. 

I  have  just  learned  that  of  eleven  shopkeepers  who  have  signed 
the  petition,  eight  keep  their  shops  open  on  Sunday.  It  is  also 
worthy  of  notice  that  although  this  petition  has  coztrted  signatures, 
there  are  none  of  the  most  respectable  Dissenters  even  who  have 
given  their  names. 

Believe  me,  my  dear  Mr.  Liddell, 

Your  faithful  brother  in  Christ, 

Ja.  Skinner. 

"  I  shall  be  ready  to  receive  you  and  the  Bishop  at 
three,"  Mr.  Skinner  writes  on  March  15.  The  result  of  the 
Bishop's  visit  has  been  told  in  Mr.  Lowder's  Life,  and  need 
not  here  be  repeated,*  especially  as  orders  issued  without 
regard  to  authority  could,  in  their  nature,  have  but  a  tran- 
sitory effect.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  changes  en- 
joined by  Mr.  Liddell,  although  for  a  time  most  of  them 
were  complied  with  ;  for  in  the  end  it  was  the  services  at 
St.  Paul's  which,  in  respect  of  every  point  in  dispute,  became 
assimilated  to  those  of  St  Barnabas'.  Of  another  repre- 
sentation made  to  the  Bishop,  Mr.  Liddell  writes  on 
June  28,  1852  : — 

...  I  told  him  how  impertinent  we  thought  it,  but  that  we 
should  of  course  pay  deference  to  any  communications  from  him- 

#  See  "  Charles  Lowder :  a  Biography,"  p.  37. 


92  LETTER   TO  BISHOP  OF  LONDON. 

self  if  he  thought  fit  to  notice  such  fellows  ;  that  we  courted  pub- 
licity, and  that  you  would  be  glad  to  go  to  him  and  give  him  full 
information  upon  any  charges  brought  against  St.  Barnabas'.  Also, 
that  we  were  sure  it  was  nothing  but  an  election  trick.  I  hope  he 
will  snub  them,  but  I  think  a  bold  front  is  all  we  have  to  show. 

To  Bishop  Blomfield  Mr.  Skinner  writes  on  July  15  in 
reference  to  two  points  mentioned  by  the  Bishop  in  an 
interview  with  him  that  morning,  and  concludes  his  letter 
thus  : 

I  hope  your  lordship  will  forgive  me  for  troubling  you  with 
this  explanation,  and  also  for  adding  that  there  is  too  good  reason 
to  fear  that  any  adjustment  of  these  two  points  to  whatever  form 
would  still  leave  where  they  are  the  objections  of  those  who  per- 
sistently memorialize  your  lordship  against  us.  The  objection  is 
to  our  work  as  a  whole,  the  success  of  which,  by  God's  blessing, 
has  made  itself  seen  and  felt  in  the  numerous  assemblies  of 
devoted  daily  worshippers,  in  the  constancy  and  frequency  of 
attendance  at  the  Lord's  Table,  and  in  the  deepening  growth 
amongst  us  of  penitence  and  true  religion ;  facts  to  which,  if  your 
lordship  pleased,  most  willing  and  ready  witnesses  might  be  called. 

Some  of  the  details  of  the  battle  for  liberty  in  1852 
have  been  given  because  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  struggle 
of  which  we  are  far  from  seeing  the  end,  or  being  able  to 
estimate  the  importance.  Mr.  Skinner  wrote  himself,  on 
his  deathbed  : 

Those  of  us  who  remember  the  early  dawn  of  "  the  Oxford 
movement,"  in  1832-3,  have  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  two  dis- 
tinct stages  in  its  course  ;  the  first  devoted  to  dogma,  or  the  explicit 
statement  of  facts  and  doctrines ;  the  second,  to  the  application  of 
fixed  theological  principles  to  the  practice  of  morals  and  public 
worship.  The  first  stage  may  be  said  to  have  already  passed  into 
the  second,  as  early  as  1842,  when  Bishop  Blomfield  delivered  the 


COURAGE  IN  LEADERSHIP.  93 

celebrated  charge  which  revived  the  long-forgotten  claims  of  the 
Rubrical  Law  of  the  English  Prayer-Book  upon  the  obedience  of 
the  clergy.  But  this  preliminary  passage  received  a  formidable 
check,  through  the  rebellion  of  the  Islington  clergy,  who  com- 
pelled the  Bishop  to  recede  from  his  position  ;  and  it  is,  therefore, 
probably,  more  correct  to  say  that  in  1850,  with  the  consecration 
of  St.  Barnabas',  Pimlico,  a  chapel  within  the  parish  of  St.  Paul's, 
Knightsbridge,  commenced  the  second  stage  of  that  wonderful 
movement  which  is  still  in  its  full  vigour  of  reviving  the  spiritual 
life  of  the  Church  of  England.* 

To  him,  for  a  brief  season,  was  committed  the  leadership 
of  this  second  stage  of  the  movement,  and  he  held  it  with 
invincible  courage  and  fidelity.  He  brought  to  the  work  a 
naturally  strong  will  ;  and  men  complained  at  times  that 
he  was  too  stern  and  unbending.  It  may  have  been  so  ;  he 
spoke  strongly  in  his  latter  days  to  an  intimate  friend  of 
the  "  dominant  passion  to  have  our  own  estimate  of  truth 
asserted,"  as  though  it  were  one  of  which  he  had  felt  the 
force.  Yet  the  world  knew  little  of  the  tenderness  that  was 
combined  with  an  iron  will,  or  of  how  "  a  soft  answer  "  could 
in  a  moment  turn  his  most  eager  moods  into  gentleness. 

Private  sorrows  and  anxieties  also  weighed  heavily 
upon  him  at  this  time.  In  January  his  wife's  eldest  sister 
died, — doubly  dear  to  him  through  her  marriage  with  his 
own  brother.     He  writes  to  her  mother : 

Chipperfield  House,  January  26,  1852. 
My  ever  dearest  Mother, 

You  have  often  said  that  I  had  the  power,  through  God's 
grace,  of  soothing  and  comforting  those  who  mourn.  I  have 
never  thought  so  myself,  except  that  it  has  been  that  out  of  my 
weakness  God  has  been  pleased  to  bring  strength  to  those  who 

*  Letter  to  Rev.  H.  Montagu  Villiers. 


94  LETTER   TO  MRS.   RAYMOND. 

have  looked  simply  to  Him.  However  this  may  be,  to  none  do 
I  owe  all  the  comfort  I  can  speak,  after  my  poor  dear  sorrowing 
widowed  brother,  more  freely  than  to  yourself,  the  mother  of  our 
departed  darling ;  and  this  I  owe,  dearest,  not  more  out  of  the 
tender  ties  which  bound  you  to  your  child,  than  out  of  the  deep 
unfeigned  love  I  bear  you  yourself. 

Alas  !  alas  !  how  little  do  we  know  the  future  !  and  how  well 
it  is  for  us  that  so  God  should  order  His  blessed  will !  And  yet 
our  poor  weak,  faithless  hearts  keep  desiring  issues  for  themselves ; 
hoping,  and  fearing,  and  doubting,  and  distracting  themselves,  as 
if  we  dared  not  trust  our  all  with  Him  Who  loves  us,  and  would 
only  save  us  from  sin  and  from  ourselves  !  How  much  this  has 
been  the  case  throughout  our  beloved  Margaretta's  sickness  ! 
How  faithlessly  have  we  longed  and  prayed  for  other  results  than 
that  which  it  has  pleased  God  to  bring  about !  The  weakness  of 
flesh  and  blood  may  well  excuse  this  infirmity ;  but  how  shall  we 
stand  excused  now  that  God  has  spoken,  if  we  do  not  bow  to  His 
Almighty  Will,  and  kiss  the  rod  of  love  wherewith  He  smites  us  ! 
Oh,  my  beloved  mother,  what  mercy  and  compassion  and  pity 
of  our  gracious  Father,  through  His  Beloved  Son,  may  we  not 
discern  in  the  midst  of  this  deep  and  piercing  sorrow !  There 
is  no  passage  of  her  guileless  life  which  will  not  bear  our  thinking 
happily  upon  :  her  child-like  innocence  of  will ;  her  unspeakable 
strength  of  faith  in  Him  who  died  for  her,  and  all  the  blessedness 
of  grace  which  He  provided  in  His  Church ;  her  anxiety  to  do 
right,  to  bring  up  her  children  well,  to  guard  the  spiritual  life  of 
her  servants  and  dependents,  to  do  her  duty  to  George,  whom 
she  loved  with  an  angel's  love.  She  never  thought  of  herself 
but  as  one  that  had  done  little  and  had  much  to  learn. 

I  know  your  dear  anxious  heart  will  also  be  comforted  at  what 
remains  to  be  told.  You  know  how  deep  rooted  has  ever  been  the 
affection  between  all  our  mutual  relations  in  the  double  tie  which 
has  ever  made  us  one  family  rather  than  two.  We  have  felt 
therefore  that  her  spirit  will  rejoice  over  the  knowledge  (if  it  be 
permitted)  that  henceforth  we  shall  indeed  be  one  household  and 
one  family,  living  under  the  same  roof,  and  training  up  our  children 


TRIALS.  95 

under  the  shadow  of  that  temple  of  God's  house,  whither  His 
Providence  hath  guided  me. 

Last  year  at  this  time,  when  no  thoughts  of  this  affliction 
were  present,  I  was  myself  an  outcast  as  it  were,  without  home  in 
this  world,  and  all  but  summoned  off  to  another.  Now,  God 
smites  in  another  direction ;  and  while  with  one  hand  He  takes 
away,  with  the  other  He  raises  up  a  home,  and  an  affectionate 
heart  to  fill  a  mother's  place ;  and,  above  all,  a  full  and  gracious 
supply  of  all  the  means  of  grace  and  blessing  whereby  we  may 
learn  to  make  a  heaven  on  earth,  and  live  in  close  communion 
with  the  spirits  above  ! 

We  have  abundant  room  at  St.  Barnabas'  to  take  in  the  three 
children,  and  to  give  George  rooms  for  himself,  where  he  can 
carry  on  his  business  with  half  the  wear  and  tear  to  his  body,  and 
see  his  pets  cared  for  with  less  anxiety  to  his  mind. 

May  God  grant  us  also  the  comfort  of  deep  and  lasting  profit 
to  our  souls,  long,  long  after  the  burden  of  His  Hand  shall  have 
passed  away !  This,  after  all,  will  be  the  real  comfort,  that  we 
have  been  now  closer  to  God's  side,  and  taken  more  completely 
out  of  our  wicked  selves  ! 

Meantime,  dearest  mother,  let  us  send  on,  together  with  our 
sainted  treasure,  messengers  to  view  the  country  which  God  will 
give  us — our  faith  in  believing  ;  our  hope  in  expecting  ;  our  love 
in  obeying.  Oh,  will  not  these  messengers  bring  back  to  us 
the  blessed  word  that  "  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor 
hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive,  the  things 
which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him  "  ? 

A  still  greater  sorrow  threatened  him  in  his  wife's  long 
and  dangerous  illness.  The  loss  of  her  sister  told  severely 
on  her  health,  and  in  Lent  of  this  year  she  was  sent  to 
St.  Leonard's-on-Sea,  where  she  became  so  dangerously 
ill,  that  a  telegram  was  sent  to  Mr.  Skinner  on  Good 
Friday  morning,  summoning  him,  as  it  was  thought,  to 
her  death-bed.     He  could  not  set  out  at  once,  but  was 


g6  LETTER  FROM  LORD  RLCHARD   CAVENDISH. 

forced  to  take  his  part  in  the  services  of  the  day,  and  to 
preach.  When  he  arrived  at  St.  Leonard's  the  same 
evening,  there  seemed  small  hope  of  her  life,  and  though 
the  severity  of  her  illness  gradually  abated,  she  continued 
an  invalid  for  more  than  a  year.  All  this  anxiety  made 
the  continued  worry  of  complaints  against  him  to  the 
Bishop  the  more  trying.  Writing  of  one  of  these,  Mr. 
Liddell  says — 

September  3,  1S52. 
I  am  only  thankful,  my  dear  Skinner,  that  those  who  are 
watching  for  our  halting  cannot  attack  us  upon  any  more  impor- 
tant matters ;  and  the  longer  we  can  go  on  steadily  endeavouring 
to  develop  the  mind  of  the  Church,  the  more  we  shall  rivet  the 
affections  of  all  candid  and  devout  Church-people,  and  discern 
the  opposition  of  such  ignorant  meddlers  as  the  St.  George's 
Vestry.  Pray  write  me  a  line  to  tell  me  how  you  and  Mrs. 
Skinner  are.  I  presume  that  she  has  ere  this  gone  down  to  her 
father  in  Essex.  I  expect  to  be  back  at  home  by  the  end  of  the 
month. 

A  few  days  later,  Lord  Richard  Cavendish  writes : 

Compton  Place,  Eastbourne,  September  15,  1852. 

My  dear  Mr.  Skinner, 

Your  letter  has  grieved  me  deeply  on  your  account. 
Most  sincerely  do  I  sympathize  with  you  in  this  most  trying 
affliction  which  it  pleases  God  to  send  on  you.  I  had  hoped  from 
what  I  last  had  heard  of  Mrs.  Skinner  that  she  was  much  better. 
May  God  grant  you  a  merciful  answer  to  your  prayers  for  her, 
even  although  it  be  not  in  the  way  which  you  would  naturally 
most  desire.  It  is  sad,  too,  with  such  a  constant  trial  pressing 
upon  you,  to  have  all  the  misery  of  this  wretched  struggle  with  the 
Bishop,  to  whom  you  ought  to  be  able  to  look  for  your  principal 
support.  It  is  most  needful  that  a  stand  should  be  made  against 
the  unlawful  commands  of  a  Bishop   issued  merely  in  the  vain 


FEARS.  97 

hope  of  "satisfying  a  public"  who  will  never  be  satisfied  with  any- 
thing short  of  the  abolition  of  all  Catholic  doctrine  and  worship 
in  the  English  Church.  The  notion  of  your  having  on  any 
account  to  leave  St.  Barnabas'  fills  me  with  dismay.  I  dare  not 
think  of  it.     I  can  only  say,  may  God  be  merciful  to  us  ! 

I  wish  I  could  hope  to  hear  better  news  of  Mrs.  Skinner. 
What  I  can  do  to  help  you  in  your  present  straits  I  will,  and  that 
is  to  remember  you  daily  in  my  prayers. 

Ever,  my  dear  Mr.  Skinner,  yours, 

Richard  Cavendish. 


H 


CHAPTER  VI. 

LETTERS   OF   SPIRITUAL  COUNSEL. 

"Jam  non  consilio  bonus,  sed  more  eo  perductus,  ut  non  tantum  recte 
facere  possim,  sed  nisi  recte  facere  non  possim." 

THAT  which  the  world  saw  at  St.  Barnabas',  and  either 
attacked  or  valued,  was  perhaps  but  a  small  part  of  the 
work  for  souls  which  went  on,  silently  though  without  con- 
cealment or  mystery,  increasing  year  by  year.  It  was  at 
this  time  that  Mr.  Skinner  was  called  on  to  minister  largely 
to  individuals  whom  his  preaching  had  first  attracted  and 
then  roused.  Henceforward,  to  the.end  of  his  life,  the  teach- 
ing and  training  of  minds  and  souls  "  requiring  "  at  his  hands 
"  counsel  and  comfort "  formed  a  considerable  part  of  his 
work.  Some  of  the  letters  addressed  to  those  whom  he  thus 
taught  have  been  kindly  given,  in  the  hope  of  others  gaining 
help  or  comfort  from  them,  although,  for  obvious  reasons, 
dates  are  omitted.  And  this  prayer  was  also  written 
during  his  early  days  at  St.  Barnabas' : — 

O  most  gracious  Jesu,  Who  art  the  Author  of  all  grace,  and 
Who  alone  vvorkest  through  the  means  of  grace  vouchsafed  to  us 
in  Thy  Church,  I  humbly  beseech  Thee  that,  as  Thou  hast  been 
pleased  to  consign  to  me,  Thy  deeply  unworthy  servant,  the  awful 
power  of  binding  and  loosing  in  Thy  Name,  thou  wilt  graciously 
vouchsafe  me  such   a   measure  of  holiness   and  purity,  as   may 


DIFFERENCES  OF  OPINION.  99 

enable  me  to  discharge  this  high  office  as  becometh  Thy  priest 
and  ambassador  for  souls. 

O,  let  there  be  in  me  a  heart  of  faith  and  chastity,  that  while 
I  minister  Thy  cleansing  to  the  uncleanness  of  others.  I  may  not 
myself  contract  the  least  spot  or  stain  of  sin.  Let  there  be  in 
me  a  burning  desire  for  the  salvation  of  souls  for  which  Thou  hast 
poured  out  Thy  blood,  and  a  clear  and  full  estimate  of  the  horrible 
loss  and  gain  which  they  sustain  who  lose  heaven  and  gain  hell. 
O,  let  there  be  in  me  the  sweetness  of  a  good  father,  the  gentle- 
ness and  skill  of  a  good  physician,  and  the  loving  care  of  a  tender 
shepherd.  Grant  that  I  may  be  enabled  to  soothe  the  afflicted, 
to  illuminate  the  blinded,  to  speak  peace  to  the  disturbed,  to 
assure  the  timid,  to  strengthen  the  falling,  to  stimulate  the 
slothful,  to  establish  the  weak,  to  heal  the  sick  in  soul,  and  to 
counsel  each  of  Thy  people  according  to  his  or  her  need.  Grant 
that  I  may  be  able  to  persuade  each  of  the  great  things  which 
pertain  to  the  soul.  And,  O  most  loving  Jesu,  give  me  a  deep 
sense  of  my  own  vileness  and  unworthiness,  that  to  those  who 
come  here  to  be  absolved  by  the  power  of  Thy  high  authority,  I 
may  yield  an  ear  of  earnest  attention  and  patience,  and  a  heart  of 
love  and  purity  and  true  sympathy ;  seeing  that  I  also  am  tempted, 
and  that  sin  is  the  common  curse  of  man. 

These  things  I  earnestly  beseech  Thee  to  grant  for  the  sake  of 
those  merits  whereby  Thou  hast  gained  peace  and  pardon  and 
all  things,  O  holy  Jesu. 

To . 


Differences  of  opinion  among  those  whom  you  respect  are 
entirely  compatible  with  a  fixed  unity  of  principle  binding  all  in 
common  to  one  most  holy  faith.  And  the  circumstance  that  the 
clergy  are  not  in  all  details  agreed  among  themselves,  so  far  from 
relaxing  your  hold  upon  the  positive  teaching  of  the  Church  of 
England  in  the  Prayer-Book,  should  rather  serve  to  rivet  it  more 
closely.  For  whatever  men  may  say  or  think  about  the  state- 
ments of  the  Prayer-Book,  there  the  statements  are,  to  be  judged 
by  the  common  sense  of  every  one;  and  the  variety  of  judgments 


100  FREEDOM   WITHIN  LIMITS. 

about  those  statements — their  force  and  application  in  detail,  their 
bearing  upon  other  statements,  and  the  like — is  just  the  token 
which  one  would  look  for  and  expect  of  healthy  freedom  in  this 
free  country  of  ours. 

No  doubt  there  is  another  state  of  things  in  countries  where 
obedience  to  the  Pope  is  the  highest  law  of  conscience.  But  I 
leave  you  to  say  which  of  the  two  is  the  greater  wrong  to  a 
Christian's  moral  sense — to  force  and  compel  an  absolute  agree- 
ment not  only  about  essential  doctrine,  but  about  all  the  details 
in  which  that  doctrine  is  concerned ;  or,  to  state  plainly  and  un- 
equivocally great  principles  of  truth,  as  the  English  Church  does, 
and  to  leave  her  members  free  to  apply  those  principles  to  them- 
selves, as  the  judgment  and  conscience  of  each  shall  suggest. 

The  difference  between  two  such  conditions  of  things  is  just 
the  difference  between  an  artificial  and  an  unnatural,  and  there- 
fore an  unreal  state,  and  a  natural  and  real  state.  You  mention 
Mr.  Neale's  writings  on  the  subject  of  confession.  Well,  it  is 
just  as  natural  and  real  for  Mr.  N.  to  apply  his  view  of  the 
Church's  truth  about  confession,  as  it  is  for  your  father,  or  for 
Mr.  A.  or  Mr.  B.,  each  to  apply  theirs.  But  it  would  be  very 
unreal  and  unnatural  if  all  these  gentlemen  were  compelled 
to  hold  the  same  views  exactly  about  the  use  and  application  of 
confession,  whether  they  really  and  honestly  did  so  or  not.  And 
yet  all  of  them  do  hold  the  great  broad  principle  set  forth  in  the 
Prayer-Book,  that  confession  is  a  lawful  and  charitable  provision 
for  sin-sick  souls. 

And  I  would  have  you  reason  in  the  same  way  on  the  subjects 
about  which  the  clergy  differ.  It  is  better  that  they  should  differ 
honestly  and  naturally,  as  the  constitution  of  all  human  minds 
requires,  than  that  they  should  agree  dishonestly  and  unnaturally, 
so  long  as  the  great  essential  truths  laid  down  by  the  Church  are 
held  in  common. 

God  has  given  each  of  us  the  responsibility  of  using  our 
faculties  of  judging — both  our  intellectual  and  our  spiritual  faculties. 
But  if  in  all  details  we  were  forced  to  think  alike,  there  would  be 
no  room  for  exercising  this  responsibility  at  all. 


TRUTH  AND   OPINION.  1 01 

And  now  I  will  leave  this  part  of  the  subject.  I  beg  you  to 
read  what  I  have  just  written  in  connection  with  my  last  letter,  in 
which  I  specially  considered  your  father's  particular  sentiments 
on  the  subject  of  confession  as  offering  no  just  cause  on  your 
part,  even  though  you  do  not  feel  exactly  with  him,  for  withhold- 
ing from  him  the  confidence  which  he  deserves  to  receive,  and 
which  your  own  filial  heart  prompts  you  to  give. 

To  the  Same. 

In  your  case  I  do  not  advise  confession  at  all  for  the  present. 

And  here  I  will  add  .  .  .  that  your  duty  is  now  plainly  to 
put  away  from  you  all  subjects  of  controversy  and  difference  of 
opinion.  Satisfy  yourself  once  for  all  that  truth  is  one  thing  and 
opinion  is  another  thing.  There  can  be  no  division  in  truth, 
which  is  absolutely  one,  though  every  truth  has  many  sides.  But 
opinion  may  be  diverse  without  being  wrong,  and  as  long  as  there 
are  many  men  in  the  world,  there  must  and  will  be  many  minds. 
It  is  the  province  of  charity — the  great  cardinal  grace  of  the 
gospel — to  harmonize  these  two  absolute  facts,  which  never  can 
cease  to  co-exist — the  oneness  of  truth,  and  the  multiplicity 
of  opinions.  It  is  clearly  a  snare  to  you  to  allow  your  mind  to 
dwell  unduly  on  this  apparent  paradox,  to  which  only  love  can 
reconcile  you.  Cast  the  thought  of  it  aside,  and  love  will  do  her 
work  for  you  all  the  better.  Curious  questions  may  puzzle  every 
man,  but  they  will  profit  no  man ;  meanwhile  they  bring  sure 
trouble  with  them,  unsettling  and  disturbing  consciences  which 
they  neither  profit  nor  instruct.  And  what  if  you  do  err  in  that 
which  is  doubtful  and  obscure  ?  There  can  be  no  sin  in  it,  unless 
it  be  in  a  subject  which  you  plainly  understand. 

To  the  Same. 

I  ought  not  to  say  that  your  last  letter  disappoints  me,  because 
it  only  confirms  the  impression  which  I  have  formed  of  your  case, 
and  tried  to  describe  to  you.  You  are  still  repeating  forms  of 
complaint  against  yourself  which  I  have  traced  to  their  proper 


102  HINDRANCES   TO   CONFESSION 

source,  and  you  are  investing  them  still  with  that  same  colour  of 
hopeless  despair  which  your  better  judgment  has  already  pro- 
nounced a  delusion.  There  needs  no  stronger  proof  of  the  morbid 
state  of  your  imagination. 

I  will  not  pause,  therefore,  to  go  over  again  the  same  ground. 
...  I  retain  my  opinion  that  formal  confession  would  not 
be  an  advantage  to  you  just  now.  It  would  only  create  evil.  It 
is  much  safer  for  you  to  write  freely  to  me  about  yourself  as  diffi- 
culties arise.  The  irritability  and  discontent  of  which  you  com- 
plain may,  of  course,  become  wilful  sin,  if  you  encourage  it,  or 
do  not  resist  it ;  and  then,  with  any  other  special  sins  indulged 
in  like  manner,  it  might  become  a  fit  subject  for  special  con- 
fession. .  .  .  But  meantime  I  advise  you  to  go  on  making  your 
self-examination  and  confession  before  God  in  the  ordinary  way 
of  devotion,  and  frequenting  the  Holy  Communion  with  the 
general  intention  of  beseeching  His  grace,  and  such  special  inten- 
tions as  I  suggest  according  to  your  special  needs  from  time  to 
time. 

To . 

If  your  parents  determine,  at  all  risks,  to  hinder  you  from 
consulting  an  English  priest  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  which  you 
were  baptized,  in  the  troubles  which  beset  you,  they  must  be 
prepared  to  bear  the  responsibility  of  all  the  consequences  in  time 
and  in  eternity. 

As  they  already  know,  I  will  be  no  party  to  your  secretly 
coming  to  me. 

I  would  entreat  them  to  take  the  part  of  charity  and  of 
common  sense,  and  to  leave  a  person,  at  your  age,  free  to  act, 
according  to  your  light,  in  the  things  which  concern  only  God 
and  yourself. 

But,  if  otherwise,  while  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  decline  to  help 
you  if  you  resort  to  me  for  medicine  to  your  soul,  I  am  not  at 
liberty  to  receive  you  without  their  knowledge,  though,  if  it  must 
be  so,  without  their  consent. 

Will  you  make  this  clear  to  your  parents,  with  my  respects  ? 


CONTRITION  AND  PENITENCE.  103 


To 


There  is  nothing  more  simple  than  the  law  of  the  spiritual  life 
concerning  sin.  First,  we  must  be  convicted  of  our  sin,  looking  at 
it  always,  not  from  our  own  point  of  view,  but  from  God's  ;  judg- 
ing ourselves  as  we  know  the  All  Holy  judges.  Of  course,  unless 
the  Holy  Spirit  helps  us  to  this  conviction,  we  cannot  have  it,  of 
ourselves,  and  without  earnestly  asking  to  have  it,  through  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Next,  we  must  have  contrition  for  the  sin  which  we 
know  in  ourselves,  and  have  been  convicted  of  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
That  is,  our  hearts  must  be  wounded  with  true  sorrow  and  grief 
for  having  separated  ourselves  from  God,  and  outraged  His  love, 
which  is  so  great  for  us,  by  disobeying  Him  and  opposing  our- 
selves to  His  will.  Of  course,  also,  unless  the  Holy  Spirit  helps 
us  to  this  contrition,  we  cannot  have  it :  we  cannot  make  ourselves 
have  sorrow  by  an  effort  of  our  own.  He  gives  us  this  sorrow  if 
we  ask  really  to  have  it ;  and  then  He  accepts  His  own  gift,  when 
we  offer  it  back  to  Him  in  confession,  and  gives  us  the  greater 
gift  of  pardon  in  return.  There  can  be  no  pardon,  conveyed  by 
absolution,  where  there  is  no  contrition  in  the  penitent.  Confession 
is  essential  to  penitence,*  but  contrition  is  essential  to  confession ; 
so  that  without  contrition  there  is  neither  penitence  nor  pardon. 

Well  now,  dear ,  how  does  this  law  of  spiritual  life  in  peni- 
tence affect  you  in  the  matter  of ?  1.   Examine  yourself  in 

regard  to  her  (as  to  anybody  and  everybody  with  whom  you  have 
intercourse)  :  how  you  stand — not  before  her,  or  from  your  own 
point  of  view — but  as  before  God,  remembering  His  standard  of 
perfect  love  to  Himself,  and  of  love  to  your  neighbour  as  to  yourself. 

Of  course,  looking  at  yourself  from  your  own  standard,  you 
will  not,  probably,  see  much,  if  anything,  to  condemn.  But,  con- 
sidering what  the  works  and  fruits  of  the  Spirit  and  the  flesh  are, 
respectively  (see  the  Epistle  for  Fourteenth  Sunday  after  Trinity), 
and  their  results  from  God's  point  of  view  ;  considering  also  the 
model  of  sweetness  and  patience  and  gentleness  and  endurance 
of  wrong  "  even  unto  death"  which  He  has  given  us  in  Jesus  ; 
*  See  note  at  end  of  chapter. 


104  "NUNC  CCEPI." 

considering  how  it  would  fare  with  you  in  the  Judgment  if  your 

allowance  for  and  patience  with (for  example)  should  be  taken, 

then,  for  the  measure  of  God's  allowance  and  patience  with  you; — 
then,  perhaps,  it  will  be  different ;  and  if  you  ask  God  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  give  you  light,  your  heart  will,  perhaps,  be  convicted  of 
much,  in  thought  and  word  and  deed,  which  He  must  condemn 
in  you,  and  which,  therefore,  His  dear  child  must  condemn  in 
herself.  2.  Having  been  convicted  by  God  the  Holy  Ghost  of 
sin  (not  before  man  or  according  to  man's  standard,  perhaps,  but 
of  sin  before  Him),  your  mind  will  not  dwell  (for  example)  on 

's  faults  and  sins  (they  may  be  very  great,  and  she  may  have 

been  "  intolerable  "),  but  on  your  own  faults,  and  especially  on 
your  want  of  a  Christlike  spirit  and  temper  under  provocation  ; 
and  then,  asking  for  true  sorrow,  the  Blessed  Spirit  will  give  it 
you  :  and  having  true  sorrow  for  being,  in  anything,  opposed  to  the 
love  of  God  and  the  mind  of  God,  you  will  not  spare  yourself  or 
justify  yourself,  or  think  that  any  amount  of  wrong  in  another  can 
make  wrong  to  be  right  in  you ;  and  so  you  will  give  evidence  of 
your  sorrow,  and  God's  pardon  will  be  sure  to  be  yours. 

We  must  not  be  taken  up  with  the  sins  or  faults  of  others, 
and  make  out  that  these  are  our  own  justification,  in  any  way,  for 
falling  short  of  the  highest  Christian  type  of  character :  we  must 
measure  ourselves  by  the  highest  and  leave  others  alone,  and 
simply  grieve  in  God's  presence  for  our  own  shortcomings,  and 
pray  for  His  pardon  upon  our  penitence.  May  God  guide  you 
into  all  His  whole  truth,  and  make  you  His  own  without  a  single 
reserve. 

To . 


It  is  a  great  consolation  of  the  soul  that  it  is  in  the  hands  of 
Almighty  God,  who  is  Love,  and  that  He  knows  our  necessities 
before  we  ask,  and  our  ignorance  in  asking ;  and  that  if  He  gives 
the  will  to  desire  to  be  more  moulded  to  His  mind,  He  will 
accomplish  it.  So  the  worst  would  be  to  think  you  can't  do 
better.  Nunc  ccepi  should  be  our  motto  every  day.  There  is  no 
limit  to  our  powers  of  failure,  or  of  success,  because  He  is  so 


SELF-WILL.  105 

strong  that  He  can  work  in  us.  That  is  the  comfort — if  you 
desire  His  work  in  you.  It  is  a  great  mercy  that  your  eyes  should 
be  open  to  know  one  very  besetting  sin,  love  of  self.  It  is  an 
earnest  that  He  will  enable  you  to  overcome  it.  Say  nunc  coepi 
in  full  confidence  that  He  will  enable  you  to  overcome. 

I  have  often  had  occasion  to  point  out  to  you  multiplied  hin- 
drances to  grace  through  self-love,  that  root  of  bitterness  against 
which  you  have  to  contend.  It  is  a  subtle  temptation  of  Satan  to 
lead  you  to  desire  your  own  will  in  good  things.  What  He  wills  for 
you  is  really  nearest  to  Him.  "  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  Christ  ?  "  You  are  brought  nearer  by  bearing,  by  being 
cut  off.  Sacraments  are  His ;  He  supplies  them  through  the 
great  sacrament  of  obedience.  You  substitute  your  own  will  for 
that,  and  are  over-persuaded  by  love  of  self  to  desire  what  you 
would  like  instead  of  what  He  desires  for  you.  So  if  you  analyze 
it,  it  is  absence  of  love  for  Him,  and  love  of  self.  You  make 
yourself  unhappy  because  you  can't  get  what  you  will,  instead  of 
being  happy  in  what  He  wills  :  if  you  loved  more,  you  would 
have  more  joy  in  submitting,  than  in  the  fulfilment  of  your  wishes. 
You  have  to  ask  Him  to  give  you  more  love  :  nothing  can 
separate  you  from  His  love ;  you  can  have  no  trial  compared  to 
those  of  the  early  Christians ;  and  yet  St.  Paul  says,  "  None  of 
these  things  move  me."  It  is  wrong  to  speak  of  being  cut  off; 
it  is  a  preference  of  your  own  will  to  the  will  of  God.  The  same 
is  the  cure  for  that  other  thing  you  speak  of — loss  of  fervency  in 
good  works  lest  you  should  go  wrong.  Again,  intrusion  of  self; 
nothing  is  wrong  to  one  who  loves.  Good  works  are  acceptable 
according  to  their  motive — if  it  be  love  of  God,  not  of  self. 
Begin  with  a  distinct  desire  to  do  any  good  work  as  a  fruit  of  love, 
and  you  can't  go  wrong  ;  all  is  possible  to  him  that  loveth.  The 
key  to  both  your  troubles  is  love :  you  have  failed  because  of 
shortcoming  in  love ;  you  will  succeed  as  you  love  more. 
Meditate  for  a  few  minutes  each  day  on  the'  Gospel  for  St.  Michael 
and  All  Angels  :  "  Except  ye  become  as  little  children."  Set  the 
picture  of  a  little  child  before  you — the  simplicity  of  its  love,  its 
humility  and  trustfulness.     You  are  not  as  a  little  child,  pray  Him 


106  GAIN  THROUGH  SUFFERING. 

to  make  you  more  like  one  ;  a  little  child  does  not  ask  why  it  is 
here  or  there. 

To  the  Same. 

One  great  fault  of  yours  is  to  look  out  for  extra  help  when  not 
making  the  most  of  what  God  has  given  you.  You  do  not  wilfully 
neglect  the  latter,  though  the  passage  is  easy  from  failure  in  using 
to  wilful  abuse  and  neglect ;  and  you  must  watch  lest  you  cross 
the  line  which  separates  them.  It  is  obvious  that  God's  dealings 
are  not  general,  but  particular :  He  deals  with  each  one  of  us  as 
if  there  were  no  other  soul  in  the  world,  and  all  becomes  profit  to 
you  according  as  you  use  it  or  not.  If  you  fail  to  use  grace, 
through  suffering  or  doing,  it  is  vain  to  look  out  for  other  means 
of  grace  of  your  own  choosing  :  you  are  not  to  expect  help  in  your 
own  way  if  not  taking  it  in  His.  To  speak  more  in  detail :  you 
do  not  make  the  most  of  sacramental  dealings  in  bearing,  in 
suffering,  in  humiliation.  He  sends  trials  whether  you  will  or  no  ; 
you  do  not  derive  as  much  help  as  you  might  from  them,  while 
you  think  you  might  have  more  helps  in  other  circumstances.  It 
enters  into  the  radical  defect  which  you  have  to  cure,  God  helping 
you,  that  of  desiring  your  own  way  of  profiting  instead  of  His ; 
I  consider  that  a  sore  place  in  your  spiritual  constitution,  against 
which  you  have  to  be  on  your  guard.  There  is  more  profit  in 
submission  than  in  having  your  own  way  in  spiritual  things  to  the 
utmost,  apart  from  Him. 

But  one  of  your  great  difficulties  is  the  ever  impelling  desire 
for  your  own  will  in  Divine  things,  as  in  others ;  you  can  resign 
yourself,  but  not  with  the  grace  of  feeling  it  is  best ;  there  is  an 
absence  of  joy  in  humiliation  and  suffering.  Joy  in  being  mortified 
should  be  your  aim  ;  and  you  are  very  far  from  that.  There  is 
a  subtle  form  of  justifying  yourself,  an  unwillingness  to  humble 
yourself  so  as  to  take  what  is  appointed  for  you.  You  would  rather 
go  through  things  in  your  own  way.  Your  tendency  is  to  try  and 
compass  the  ends  which  seem  to  you  good  in  your  own  way, 
without  thinking  if  they  are  pleasing  to  God.  A  most  desirable 
habit  is  silence  under  reproach — to  be  willing  to  be  blamed  amiss. 


SPIRITUAL   TRIALS.  loy 

Aim  high,  and  walk  low ;  let  self-abnegation  be  your  aim  ;  pray 
for  the  grace  of  reticence  and  self-control.     Think  of  what  was 

most  beautiful  in ,  conformity  to  God's  will,  humility,  and  for- 

getfulness  of  self.     The  lesson  of  the  Incarnation  is  humility  and 
self-sacrifice. 

To  the  Same. 

We  must  discriminate  between  what  is  outside  of  us  and  that 
which  is  within  us.  That  which  is  outside  is  God's  ordering ; 
that  which  is  within  is  subject  to  our  own  will.  It  is  a  fit  matter 
for  confession  if  any  act  of  the  will  has  been  against  His  will — 
self-choosing,  self-will,  etc.  As  to  overstrain — physical  conditions 
leading  you  to  leave  obligations  undone — it  is  not  wrong  if  not 
wilfully  brought  on  yourself.  Knowing  how  exhausted  you  get, 
yon  must  watch  not  to  waste  physical  force ;  you  are  not  careful 
enough.  Husband  your  power  for  the  great  purposes  of  life ; 
spiritual  exercises  abridged  for  the  sake  of  love  is  not  sin.  That 
is  outside.  Your  cold  feelings  are  not  you,  not  part  of  your  moral 
self;  they  are  part  of  your  imagination,  of  your  sensitive  nature ; 
you  are  not  responsible  for  feelings  without  you  indulge  them. 
Thoughts  which  disturb  us  are  either  from  the  Holy  Ghost  or 
from  the  evil  one.  Doubts  are  emanations  from  hell, — all  around 
us,  excessive  in  this  age.  The  presence  of  such  trials  is  evidence 
from  God  of  real  childhood,  if  you  are  made  to  feel  that  you  are 
surrounded  by  evil,  and  in  a  conflict.  Say  "  Get  thee  behind  me, 
Satan ; "  practise  continual  renunciation  of  him  and  his  agents  ; 
avoid  them,  and  protect  yourself  by  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and, 
"Deliver  me,  O  Lord." 

As  to  desolation,  loneliness,  all  seeming  barren — that  is  from 
God,  and  the  end  good.  It  is  His  chastening  hand.  All  must 
be  chastised.  To  some  His  scourging  comes  in  suffering,  be- 
reavement, loss  of  property ;  to  others  in  spiritual  losses.  He 
knows  what  is  best ;  chastises  us  that  we  may  be  brought  low. 
No  doubt  He  sees  your  anxiety  about  spiritual  helps,  and  throws 
you  back  to  bring  you  closer  to  Himself. 

And  so,  my  dear  child,  you  learn  year  by  year  as  your  proba- 


108  SCRUPLES. 

tion  goes  on,  and  you  come  nearer  to  the  end,  as  the  borders 
grow  narrower,  closing  around  you,  and  you  feel  the  pressure  of 
your  probation,  that  you  are  to  be  saved  in  His  way,  not  in  your 
own.  What  does  it  matter,  if  we  be  saved  in  the  end,  whether  it 
be  as  a  brand  plucked  from  the  burning,  or  after  years  and  years 
of  spiritual  consolation  ?  Seek  compunction,  not  consolation. 
What  we  have  to  do  is  to  grow  in  humility ;  your  danger  is  to  think 
much  of  self.  He  brings  you  into  a  lowlier  state,  makes  you  know 
you  are  far  behind  instead  of  far  on. 

The  letter  which  follows  was  written  to  one,  now  long 
gone  to  her  rest,  with  a  constitutional  tendency  to  insanity, 
and  preserved  from  it  by  the  wise  and  thoughtful  counsel 
and  forbearance  which  "  comforted  the  feeble-minded." 


To 


Thus  much  I  wish  to  impress  upon  you,  whatever  the  subject 
may  be.  As  to  the  particular  subject  of  confession — take  this  once 
for  all,  and  then  leave  all  doubt  and  scruple — God  has  appointed 
spiritual  persons  to  be  guides  of  souls,  whose  office  it  is  to  direct 
and  comfort,  to  refresh  the  weary,  to  strengthen  the  weak,  to  con- 
firm the  strong,  and  to  instruct  the  doubtful.  To  use  their  advice, 
therefore,  in  humble  gratitude  to  God,  is  the  actual  remedy  which 
God  has  appointed. 

And  now  I  will  pass  on. 

I  have,  in  a  former  letter,  shown  you  such  a  picture  of  3-ourself 
as  I  hope  quite  serves  to  convince  you  that  you  are  suffering  from 
a  diseased  conscience.  If  you  follow  up  its  symptoms  farther, 
you  will  be  the  more  convinced  of  this.  It  is  most  important  that 
you  should  be  quite  convinced  of  it. 

Accusing  yourself,  without  definite  form  or  matter ;  your  very 
best  efforts  making  you  fear ;  most  earnestly  unwilling  to  offend 
God,  yet  not  knowing  how  to  avoid  it ;  not  standing  anywhere  for 
fear  of  slipping  everywhere;  thinking  every  step  a  danger  and 
every  attempt  a  failure;  and  believing  yourself  drowning,  when 


SPIRITUAL  SICKNESS.  IO9 

you  are  firm  on  dry  land.  It  is  as  if  you  were  walking  in  the 
dark,  where  you  see  nothing  to  frighten  you,  and  yet  your  fancy 
is  presenting  all  manner  of  evils  to  trouble  and  alarm  you ;  a 
horror  of  you  know  not  what ;  taking  advice,  and  then  doubting 
whether  your  adviser  understands  you,  and  so  not  following  it  or 
reaping  profit  from  it ;  more  at  peace  and  rest  for  a  little  time, 
and  then,  all  anew  in  wretchedness  and  misery  again.  Such  are 
some  of  the  symptoms  which  mark  your  disease,  and  show  that 
it  is  a  disease.  And  then  the  effects  of  it,  which  confirm  the 
symptoms  and  prove  the  correctness  of  the  decision — a  certain 
coldness  and  distaste  at  God's  service,  even  at  your  devotional 
exercises  and  at  the  Holy  Communion ;  and  from  distaste,  a  cer- 
tain discouragement  and  hopelessness  about  them  all ;  then  also 
a  derangement  of  bodily  health  and  strength,  a  want  of  energy 
and  vigour  and  spirit,  and  a  growing  incapacity  for  the  ordinary 
duties  of  life. 

A  consideration  of  these  symptoms  and  effects  make  it  plain 
that  your  state  of  mind  is  not  a  departure  from  God  and  goodness, 
but  a  state  of  disease — and  a  disease  which,  without  any  doubt, 
may,  with  His  help,  be  certainly  cured.  But  first  let  us  inquire 
how  and  whence  it  has  come  upon  you.  And  this  is  very  impor- 
tant for  you  to  know  and  think  over.  To  know  whence  your 
trouble  comes  will  help  you  greatly  to  bear  it,  nay,  even  to  profit 
by  it.     This  will  suffice  for  the  present  letter. 

First,  then,  it  may  be  that  this  comes  to  you  direct  from  God. 
He  has  a  design  of  mercy  in  it  for  your  greater  perfection. 
Either  He  would  punish  you  for  some  presumption  and  boldness 
in  His  sight,  hidden  from  yourself  hitherto,  but  known  to  Him ; 
or,  which  is  most  probable,  He  would  detach  you  more  from  self, 
and  from  your  appetite  for  sensible  delight  in  serving  Him ;  He 
would  take  you  off  from  the  desire  of  always  feeling  Him  nigh, 
in  order  that  you  might  rather  learn  to  serve  Him  for  His  own 
sake,  and  not  for  the  comfort  which  it  brings.  Or  it  is  possible 
that  God  may  be  preparing  you,  through  a  process  of  suffering  in 
the  spirit,  for  the  reception  of  some  great  and  unspeakable  grace. 
The  second  seems  the  most  probable  purpose,  if  one  may  venture 


HO  DOUBTS. 

to  speak  of  what  is  probable  with  God.  But  whatever  it  be — if 
it  be  from  God,  and  so  far  as  it  is  from  God — it  will  be  but  for  a 
time,  for  "  the  twinkling  of  an  eye :  heaviness  may  endure  for  a 
night,  but  joy  cometh  in  the  morning."  In  all  such  a  case,  it  is 
with  you  as  with  the  moon — the  nearer  she  approaches  the  sun 
the  less  does  her  light  shine.  But  her  light  remains  the  same  in 
itself.  So  in  the  midst  of  your  darkness  which  God  causes — He 
makes  you  to  love  Him  nevertheless,  though  you  are  not  sensible 
of  your  love,  nay,  though  you  think  you  are  offending  Him.  By- 
and-by,  this  cloud  will  pass  away  from  you,  just  as  the  vapours 
which  the  sun  draws  up  from  their  thickness  and  coldness  on  the 
earth  by-and-by  disperse  and  fall  down  as  the  brightest  dew. 

It  is  easy  to  tell  when  your  trouble  comes  from  God,  by  the 
submission  to  His  holy  will,  and  by  the  docility  and  trustfulness 
and  humility  with  which  you  conduct  yourself  under  the  process 
of  cure. 

But  secondty,  your  disease  may  come  from  Satan,  the  evil 
one,  the  enemy  of  souls.  And  that  it  does  so,  in  part,  appears 
from  the  nature  of  it.  Let  not  this  amaze  or  discourage  you.  It 
is  the  especial  work  of  Satan  to  come  between  us  and  our  peace. 
And  that  he  should  come  between  you  and  yours  is  nothing 
strange.  He  has  also  especial  power  over  our  imaginations  ;  and 
he  wrongs  us  through  this  power ;  he  excites  fears  and  doubts — no 
matter  how,  with  foundation  or  without  foundation,  it  is  all  the 
same  to  him,  so  he  disturbs  and  discourages  us.  Just  like  an 
opposing  army  set  down  before  a  citadel  to  take  it ;  by  feigning  to 
attack,  or  by  really  attacking,  no  matter  which,  if  only  it  wears  out 
the  besieged,  and  vexes  them  by  perpetual  watching,  and  so  gains 
its  position  at  last — such  is  the  devil's  way. 

He  suggests  doubts  and  scruples  about  things  indifferent,  and 
makes  difficulties  about  everything,  because  he  wishes  you  to  do 
nothing.  He  would  have  you  believe  that  you  have  fallen  out  of 
God's  favour,  and  are  an  object  of  His  hatred,  because  he  wishes 
to  discourage  you  from  serving  God  at  all.  He  exaggerates  and 
misrepresents  the  difficulty  of  this  and  that  duty,  because  he 
wishes  to  disgust  you  with  all  duty.     If  a  thing  be  hard  to  do,  he 


NATURAL   TEMPERAMENT.  Ill 

says  it  is  impossible.  He  would  cut  off  all  confidence  in  God  as 
being  "  a  hard  master,"  because  he  wishes  you  to  "bury"  your 
talent  in  the  earth,  and  to  give  up  trading  with  it ;  that  is,  give 
up  church,  and  services,  and  Holy  Communion,  and  prayers  and 
meditations. 

Thirdly,  your  disease  may  come  from  your  own  natural  consti- 
tution and  temperament,  that  is,  from  your  weakness  and  infirmity. 
And  this  is  greatly  your  case.  Men  are  open  more  or  less  to  spiri- 
tual diseases  according  to  their  form  and  texture,  by  nature,  in 
mind  and  body.  (Just  as  it  is  in  the  vegetable  world  :  the  fir  tree  is 
more  apt  to  produce  worm-eaten  wood  than  the  cedar  or  the  oak.) 
And  when  this  is  the  case,  Satan  takes  advantage,  and  makes 
religion,  as  it  were,  strike  itself  upon  the  face  by  the  weak  trem- 
blings of  its  own  fingers.  Weak  health,  for  instance,  making 
your  bodily  strength  very  unequal,  and  so  affecting  the  spirits. 
A  naturally  shy  and  timid  and  reserved  and  cold  disposition. 
Feebleness  of  mind  easily  deceiving  itself,  and  taking  that  for 
wrong  which  is  simply  indifferent.  Ignorance  also  and  want  of 
information.  Then,  and  this  perhaps  most  of  all,  a  certain  amour 
propre,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  which  sets  a  person  upon  seeking 
too  great  an  assurance  of  the  goodness  and  correctness  of  his 
devotions  and  duties — a  greater  assurance  than  is  possible — and 
solely  for  his  own  greater  comfort  in  religion. 

And  now  I  think  I  have  exhausted  the  root  and  source  of  that 
spiritual  disease  under  which  you  suffer.  My  object  is  that  you 
may  steadily  and  patiently  look  it  in  the  face  and  see  what  it  is — 
a  disease.  That  it  is  not  a  state  of  sin,  or  a  state  in  which  God 
is  angry  with  you ;  rather  otherwise — a  state  in  which  God  is 
dealing  with  you  graciously,  or  in  which  He  is  pitying  you  with 
His  loving  pity  and  ready  to  help  you  with  His  almighty  arm. 

To  the  Same. 

I  fear  I  have  much  disappointed  you,  by  so  long  delaying  to 
answer  your  letter. 

But  you  will  kindly  believe  that  indifference  to  your  needs  has 
not  been  the  cause.     Indeed,  since  I  saw  you  at you  have 


112  PATIENCE. 

never  been  a  day  out  of  my  thoughts,  and  you  are  always  remem- 
bered in  my  prayers. 

I  am  not  very  strong,  as  you  know ;  and  the  weakness  under 
which  I  suffer  affects  all  I  undertake  to  do.  Yours  is  an  exceed- 
ingly difficult  spiritual  case  to  deal  with,  and  it  has  been  from  an 
exceeding  desire  to  deal  with  it  wisely  and  well,  that  I  have  not 
been  able  to  make  up  my  mind  about  it  sooner.  I  earnestly  hope 
and  pray  that  you  may  be  no  sufferer  through  this  deliberation. 
Nay,  rather  I  may  hope  that  after  you  have  recovered  the  first 
disappointment,  you  will  be  the  gainer. 

I  wish,  deliberately,  to  go  through  your  difficulties,  one  by  one, 
and  to  analyze  them  to  you,  that  you  may  face  them  as  they  really 
are  and  not  as  you  imagine  them  to  be.  And  then  I  wish  to 
attack  your  enemy  from  all  the  different  points  on  which  he  has 
made  himself  assailable.  This  will  take  some  time.  And  both 
you  and  I  will  have  to  exercise  all  that  waiting  forbearance  which 
is  necessary  with  everything  which  cannot  be  done  offhand  and  at 
once.  I  will  write  first  one  letter  and  then  another,  as  I  can — it 
may  be  often  at  some  interval,  one  from  the  other ;  and  you  will 
kindly  study  and  pray  over  what  I  write,  and  not  be  impatient  or 
lose  heart,  because  I  do  not  write  quickly  enough,  or  you  do  not 
quickly  enough  gather  up  the  comfort  you  hope  for. 

And  remember  that  all  I  attempt  to  offer,  and  all  you  do 
your  best  to  receive,  will  go  for  nothing  without  God's  special 
grace,  which  you  must  beg  for  by  special  prayer.  I  advise  you  to 
consider  solemnly,  for  a  second  or  two,  that  you  are  submitting 
yourself  to  guidance  and  direction  at  the  hands  of  one  to  whom 
God's  providence  has  sent  you,  and  then  to  kneel  down,  and  in 
thought  of  that  means  being  blessed  to  you,  say,  "  O  Lord  my 
God,  I  beseech  Thee,  strengthen  me  with  that  blessed  Spirit  of 
Thine,  the  Ghostly  Comforter,  and  ■  daily  increase  in  me  Thy 
manifold  gifts  of  grace,  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  understanding, 
the  spirit  of  counsel  and  ghostly  strength,  the  spirit  of  knowledge 
and  true  godliness,  and  fulfil  me,  O  Lord,  with  the  spirit  of  Thy 
holy  fear,  even  through  Him  who  hath  sent  down  the  Spirit  upon 
His  Church,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen." 


SELF-  TORMENTING.  1 1 3 

I  will  first  of  all  speak  of  what  is  on  the  surface  of  your  letter, 
and  what  comes  first  is  "  the  great  trouble  "  you  spoke  of  when  I 
saw  you.  Now,  my  clear  child,  I  am  far  from  underrating  that 
trouble.  But  face  it  and  see  what  it  really  is.  Ought  it  to  remain 
a  trouble  ?  Supposing  that  your  father  was  forcing  his  opinions  on 
the  subject  of  confession  upon  you,  and  requiring  you  to  yield  to 
them  and  to  the  results  which  seem  to  follow  upon  them,  you 
might  then  doubtless  feel  that  a  great  trouble  was  laid  upon  you. 
But  so  far  from  this  being  the  case,  your  father  leaves  you  entirely 
free ;  and  you  are  under  the  direction  of  one  in  whom  you  have 
the  comfort  of  knowing  that  he  has  confidence,  who  yet  does  not 
certainly  regard  confession  as  necessary  for  all,  and,  under  your 
present  circumstances,  not  necessary — not  even  desirable — 
for  you. 

But  the  trouble  is  that  you  do  not  feel  a  confidence  that  your 
father  is  right,  and  that  such  a  feeling  branches  out,  and  unsettles 
your  general  strength  of  reliance  on  his  judgment.  And  this  not 
with  any  regard  to  yourself  personally,  but  with  regard  to  others 
and  what  must  needs  come  under  your  observation. 

Now,  my  answer  to  this  statement  of  the  case  is  very  plain  and 
easy.  I  do  not  so  much  say  how  such  a  feeling  might  well  arise 
in  your  mind,  as  that  such  a  feeling  ought  not  to  be.  Such  a  feel- 
ing might  most  naturally  arise.  But  it  might  also  most  naturally 
be  put  down.     And  I  will  tell  you  how. 

The  subject  of  it  all  is  this  question  of  confession — a  difficult 
and  a  most  important  question.  Your  father  has  made  a  sort  of 
special  property  in  it,  and  taken  it  up  warmly  and  earnestly.  And 
like  all  men  who  take  up  one  subject  warmly  and  earnestly,  he  has 
overpressed  some  of  its  bearings  and  relations,  and  disturbed  its 
main  position  with  respect  to  other  subjects.  It  is  the  natural 
infirmity  of  human  minds  to  do  this.  Your  father's  mind  is  only 
human,  and  it  should  be  no  prejudice  to  his  general  judgment  and 
wisdom,  that  he  has  done  on  the  subject  of  confession  what  all 
human  minds  are  liable  to  do  on  subjects  which  they  take  up  too 
exclusively. 

But    then  there  is  So-and-so,  and  several  others,  who  take 

I 


114  FILIAL   DUTY. 

advantage  of  this  infirmity,  and  instead  of  trying  to  make  it  less 
by  doing  their  parts  more  considerately,  make  it  greater  and  do 
their  best  to  fix  and  establish  it.  And  this  is  a  great  daily  sorrow 
to  you. 

Well,  and  I  can  understand  that.  But  over  against  it,  you 
should  set  your  own  liability  to  misunderstand  and  to  misjudge. 
And  you  should  stir  up  within  your  own  heart  the  grace  of  charity 
and  love.  And  then  you  would  say,  "  I  may  mistake  So-and-so — 
her  or  his  needs  may  be  very  different  from  what  I  take  them  to 
be  ;  so  may  all  the  kindness,  and  love,  and  attention,  and  readiness 
to  meet  their  wishes  which  I  see  on  my  father's  part.  And,  at  any 
rate,  he  is  the  servant  of  men  for  Christ's  sake ;  and  the  less  he 
spares  himself  the  more  is  he  like  his  Master."  So  you  would 
reason  all  hardness  and  danger  of  unkind  or  unloving  thought 
out  of  your  mind. 

And,  lastly,  on  the  whole  view  of  this  "  trouble,"  it  should  be 
put  down  and  expelled  by  the  force  of  one  overpowering  conviction, 
that,  be  your  father  right  or  wrong  in  his  opinions,  while  his  love 
for  you  has  set  you  free  from  their  operation  on  yourself,  he  is 
most  single-hearted  and  earnest  and  sincere  in  his  desire  to  save 
the  souls  of  men.  I  sum  up  this  letter  and  this  part  of  my  subject 
with  but  one  or  two  earnest  words  of  counsel : 

Ask  God  for  help  to  drive  away  this  trouble.  Read  what  I 
have  written  again  and  again  about  it,  and  begin  to  act  upon  the 
strength  of  the  conviction  which  it  leaves. 

Continue  to  trust  in  your  father's  judgment  in  general,  even 
though  the  natural  infirmity  of  man  may  have  led  him  to  make  a 
mistake  in  some  particular. 

And  above  all  things  try  all  your  own  judgment  of  all  things 
by  the  test  of  inward  humility  and  meekness  as  respects  yourself, 
and  true  Christian  charity  and  love  as  respects  others. 

I  will  write  again  very  soon.  Meantime  I  commend  you 
earnestly  to  the  love  and  mercy  of  our  God. 


SPIRITUAL  HUMILIATION.  115 


TO . 


I  have  not  left  myself  room  enough,  or  strength  enough,  to 
add  what  is  in  my  heart  to  say  about  your  spiritual  report  of  your- 
self this  Easter. 

What  I  gather  about  you  is,  that  you  do  not  rise  to  the  joy  of 
the  forty  days ;  that  you  are  dull  and  cold,  and  more  stiffened 
than  purified  by  Lent ;  that  you  have  to  mourn  the  absence  of 
that  consolation  to  a  "  broken  heart "  which  ought  to  come,  at 
Easter,  to  the  pardoned  penitent.  Well,,  so  it  may  well  be, 
and  you  still  be  a  greater  gainer  than  if  it  were  otherwise.  Con- 
solation is  not  so  good  for  the  soul,  or  so  great  a  gift  from 
God,  as  compunction.  And,  perhaps,  He  wills  that  this  grace 
should  be  deepened  in  you  by  showing  you  your  need  of  humilia- 
tion in  the  consciousness  of  great  shortcomings.  You  have,  it 
may  be,  thirsted  greatly  after  heavenly  things,  but  for  yourself 
more  than  for  His  glory;  and  so  your  thirst  has  not  been 
quenched.  It  has  not  been  pure  thirst  for  love  of  Him ;  it  has 
been  rather  a  keen  thirst  for  what  brings  joy  and  peace  to  your 
own  soul ;  and  therefore,  to  humble  you  out  of  self  and  into  Him, 
your  thirst  has  not  been  satisfied.  You  are  dry  and  parched  still, 
as  in  a  land  where  no  water  is. 

It  will  nevertheless  be  to  you  a  gainful  Easter-tide  and  Ascen- 
sion-tide, if  you  will  but  offer  your  "durness"  to  God,  as  the 
result  of  your  own  infirmity;  and  ask  Him  to  turn  it  into  the 
grace  of  cheerful,  humble  patience,  operating  in  increased  watch- 
fulness against  self-pleasing,  increased  bravery  in  perseverance  in 
baffling  your  enemy,  your  besetting  enemy,  who  seeks  to  under- 
mine your  service  to  God  by  mingling  the  motif  of  it.  Take  for 
a  penitential  exercise,  for  ten  days,  a  short  meditation  on  the 
forty-ninth  chapter  of  the  third  book  of  the  "  Imitatio,"  with  the 
Collect  for  Easter  Day  to  conclude. 

God  bless  and  keep  you  ever. 


Il6  INSANITY. 

To  the  Same. 

Hope,  and  rely  on  grace  given,  and  use  it  diligently,  absolutely 
surrendering  self  and  all  self-comfort  to  God,  and  leaving  the 
whole  issue  of  consolation  and  joy  and  peace  in  believing  to  Him. 
Your  real  danger  now  is  not  so  much  that  you  do  not  grow  on 
unto  perfection,  as  that  you  are  grieved  and  wounded  and  dis- 
appointed and  in  despair,  because  you  do  not  see  and  feel  your 
progress,  and  because  you  are  trusting  and  expecting  to  see  it 
and  to  feel  it,  without  the  evidence  of  His  Spirit  to  your  spirit 
that  you  are  diligent  and  patient  and  self-forgetting.  Let  go  self, 
and  do  your  present  duty ;  abandon  all  the  desire  for  consolations, 
and  cling  to  compunction  and  trustfulness  and  hope ;  and  then 
your  growth  will  be  undoubted,  whether  it  be  manifest  or  not. 

The  following  letter,  to  one  who  had  the  trial  of  seeing 
a  noble-hearted  and  beloved  husband  become  insane,  is 
given  because  it  may  possibly  be  of  comfort  to  other  like 
sufferers : — 

.  .  .  You  need  never  fear  doing  wrong  by  writing,  at  all  times, 
freely  to  me,  whenever  you  find  the  least  relief  in  giving  vent  to 
the  fulness  of  your  poor  aching  heart. 

It  is  most  natural  for  you  to  feel  as  you  say,  and  to  say  what 
you  feel.  But  you  know  that  nature  is  not  our  best  guide  and 
comfort  in  a  sorrow  like  yours.  Nature  must  have  her  way,  and 
there  is  a  certain  kind  of  relief  in  giving  her  free  scope  ;  and,  for 
a  time,  there  will  be  little  hope  in  the  effort  of  setting  anything 
against  her.  But  grace  is  the  power  which  surpasses  nature,  and 
controls  and  sanctifies  and  sweetens  all  her  emotions. 

If  I  could  help  you  to  banish  the  vision  which  haunts  you,  by 
saying,  "  Banish  it,"  the  thing  would  be  soon  and  easily  done  ! 
Yet,  by-and-by,  God  will  mercifully  also  take  this  away.  Mean- 
time, set  over  against  it  the  certainty  that  it  was  not  really  he 
whom  you  saw  so  strangely  and  mysteriously  changed,  but  his 
poor   oppressed  body,  with  his  own   true   spirit  away  and  the 


LOVE  IN  CHASTISEMENT.  l\J 

disease,  which  mangles  and  mars  the  best  of  us  (so  miserable  is 
sin  in  its  effects  upon  man),  consuming  him.  It  was  not  he  whom 
you  saw,  and  will,  in  God's  good  time,  see  again  :  it  was  the  sin 
of  our  common  nature,  from  which,  by-and-by,  he  will  be  purged 
and  separated  for  ever.  The  words  he  uttered  were  not  his 
words,  but  the  words  of  evil,  out  of  and  beyond  his  control ;  as 
much  so  as  if  they  had  been  spoken  by  another  personality,  out 
of  his  sight  and  hearing  and  reach. 

The  visitation  of  insanity  is  a  fearful  mystery  which  we  cannot 
measure ;  and  it  is  better  not  to  speculate  upon  it.  The  truth  is 
that  God  suffers  it  to  befall  those  whom  it  does  befall,  out  of  His 
mercy  and  love ;  and  we  can  know  no  more.  It  is  no  disparage- 
ment of  God's  mercy  that  so  fearful  a  punishment  should  be  laid 
upon  any  child  of  His  love — because  the  more  grievous  the 
chastisement  here  on  earth,  the  more  fully  will  love  be  known  in 
heaven,  when  the  veil  shall  be  taken  away  which  conceals  the 
motive  of  it  now.  It  need  not  be  his  own  sins  which  bring  this 
visitation ;  the  fathers'  sins  are  visited  on  the  children,  for  many 
generations,  in  the  wonders  of  God's  moral  world :  neither  need 
this  be  undoubtedly ;  for  as  of  the  man  born  blind,  so  of  your 
dear  one,  it  may  be  that  "neither  hath  this  man  sinned  nor  his 
parents,"  but  that  the  will  of  God  may  be  fulfilled,  and  His  glory 
made  manifest ! 

There  is  only  one  thing  which  we  know  for  certain,  and  that 
is,  "  God  is  love  ! "  and  the  suffering  which  love  involves,  because 
of  the  sins  of  mankind,  we  know  by  the  sufferings  which  Jesus 
bore,  who  Himself  knew  no  sin.  Look  on  that  picture,  and  you 
will  see  how  vain  and  unworthy  (though  so  natural  to  poor  flesh 
and  blood)  is  the  thought  of  God  seeming  to  be  "unjust"  or 
"cruel"  in  permitting  your  dear  one  to  go  through  this  crucible 
of  suffering,  or  rather  you  to  go  through  it  (for  mercifully  he  does 
not  suffer),  on  his  and  your  way  to  glory  and  rest. 

What  matters  it,  after  all,  what  befalls  us,  while  we  know 
that  the  hand  is  God's  which  strikes  ?  It  is  only  for  a  little  while 
we  are  in  the  dark.  He  is  All  Light.  We  know  nothing ;  He 
knows  everything.     Who  need  care  about  the  way,  so  it  be  not 


Il8  DEPRIVATION  OF  SACRAMENTS. 

our  own  self-chosen  way,  and  so  it  be  the  way  which  God  chooses, 
whereby  to  lead  us  safely  home  ?  Comfort  your  poor  heart  with 
the  thought — 

"I  will  be  still, 

Do  Thou  Thy  will, 

My  God  ! " 

Think  as  little  as  you  can  of  your  dear  one's  present  state  ; 
think  much  of  the  state  in  which,  after  a  little  while  of  endurance, 
both  you  and  he  will  be  glorified  together  with  Jesus  for  ever. 
Commit  him,  every  minute,  to  God's  hands ;  pray  for  him  there, 
and  leave  him  there,  happy  in  the  safety  which  must  be  there. 

In  like  manner,  commit  yourself  with  confidence  to  your 
Heavenly  Father,  who  knows  your  every  sigh  and  misgiving  and 
fear,  and  loves  you  with  an  eternal  love,  and  who  cannot  do  you 
wrong. 

After  He  has  troubled  you  awhile  He  will  return  and  speak 
peace  to  you :  He  will  always  "  stablish,  strengthen,  comfort, 
settle  you."  I  always  pray  and  offer  for  you.  .  .  .  God  be  with 
you. 

To  another,  suffering  from  long  illness,  he  wrote  : 

You  are  cut  off  from  external  aids  and  means  of  grace,  and 
your  inner  stock  of  spiritual  strength  seems  feeble  and  unequal  to 
the  demand  upon  it ;  and  all  seems  too  hard  to  be  borne  patiently, 
because  the  power  of  patience  seems  to  have  died  out  from  want 
of  the  feeding  help  of  grace.  Shut  up,  and  cut  off,  and  cast  on 
one's  self — and  one's  self  so  barren  and  slow — oh,  the  difficulties 
and  disheartenings  are  many,  and  you  feel  almost  " frightened"  at 
the  result.  Well,  my  view  of  it  all  may  be  wrong,  but  it  is  decided 
and  clear. 

Who  are  we  that  we  should  ever,  even  in  thought,  imagine  for 
ourselves  a  more  profitable  and  salutary  probation,  as  to  the 
spiritual  life,  than  the  probation  that  the  providence  of  God 
assigns  ?  If  it  be  God's  doing  that  you  suffer  loss  and  pain  and 
cutting  off  and  shutting  up,  shall  He  not  make  His  own  will  and 


RULE  IN  ILLNESS.  119 

your  conformity  thereunto  more  sacramental  and  prodigal  of  grace 
to  your  soul  than  if  you  had  the  ordering  for  yourself  of  daily 
communions  and  daily  instructions  at  will  ?  It  is  a  sign  of  abso- 
lute unbelief  when  we  are  more  in  search  of  God's  means  of  grace 
than  of  God,  and  therefore  more  out  of  heart,  when  God  shuts 
us  up  from  sacraments,  drawing  us  closer  to  Himself  through  the 
obedience  of  suffering,  than  when  we  have  access  daily  and  hourly 
to  the  altar,  but  have  no  check  upon  the  gratification  of  our  own 
desires. 

I  have  no  doubt  but  that  God  is  dealing  more  personally  and 
intimately,  and,  I  will  add,  more  effectively  (if  you  do  not  hinder), 
for  the  glory  of  His  own  name  and  the  purification  of  your  soul, 
by  cutting  you  off  from  outward  helps,  and  causing  you  to  suffer, 
than  when  He  was  pleased  to  bring  a  plethora  of  sacraments  to 
your  door. 

And  I  say  the  same  of  rules  of  life,  and  counsels  of  perfection, 
and  precepts  of  duty,  and  laws  of  conduct,  by  which  you  have  at 
various  times  been  overwhelmed.  God  is  more  loving  to  you  in 
throwing  you  back  upon  His  former  gifts  and  causing  you  to  use 
the  grace  which  you  have  already  received,  than  if  He  were  to 
stay  His  chastening  and  correcting  hand,  and  invite  you  to  go  on 
heaping  fresh  gifts  upon  the  mass  of  so  many  unused. 

Do  not  vex  your  memory  with  rules  which  were  applicable  in 
detail  to  other  circumstances,  but  which  are  only  good  for  present 
emergencies  in  their  principle  and  in  their  substance.  Let  your 
rule  be  simple,  viz.  to  use,  hour  by  hour,  day  by  day,  the  actual 
fact  of  suffering  by  the  will  of  God.  It  is  an  actual  fact  that  the 
root  of  most  evil  in  all  of  us,  as  in  you,  is  our  amour  firofire — self- 
love;  and  it  is  an  actual  fact  that  God  sends  us  suffering  that 
this  self-love  may  be  mortified  and  killed.  Let  your  rule  be 
to  practise  (1)  detachment  from  your  own  will  in  everything, 
welcoming  restraints,  sacrifices,  losses,  etc.,  as  gain :  (2)  detach- 
ment from  your  own  credit  with  others,  as  matter  of  gratulation 
and  satisfaction  ;  and  to  welcome  slights  and  snubs  and  even  con- 
tempt :  at  any  rate,  to  be  more  glad  when  others  seem  not  to  care 
or  to  sympathize,  than  when  they  soothe  and  flatter  and  caress  : 


120  ABSOLUTE  SUBMISSION. 

(3)  detachment  from  your  own  ease,  and  from  that  comfort  and 
convenience  which  make  as  if  the  one  desirable  thing  were  to 
get  rid  of  suffering  and  pain  and  discipline;  and  to  welcome 
external  persons  and  things,  which  at  least  tend  to  qualify  all 
refreshment,  if  they  do  not  minister  to  the  reality  of  your  morti- 
fications. 

Aim  at  these  examples  of  a  rule  of  mortification,  if  only  to 
witness  to  God  that  the  desire  of  your  heart  is  to  co-operate  with 
Him  j  not  to  please  yourself  ivith  Him,  in  your  own  way,  but  to 
obey  and  honour  Him,  in  His  way.  And  trust  Him  implicitly  and 
wholly — not  His  promises,  or  His  sacraments,  or  His  priests,  or 
His  grace — all  these ;  but  not  these  only — but  Him.  He  is  over 
you,  in  you,  above  you,  below  you ;  all  around  you  to  keep  you, 
to  bless  you,  to  heal  you,  to  save  you.  Trust  yourself  to  Him 
with  the  trust  of  an  infant ;  of  absolute,  undoubting,  unconditional 
surrender.  And  doubt  not  that  all  things,  for  body  and  soul,  will 
work  together  in  the  march  of  good — of  final  ultimate  good — 
through  whatever  evil  you  may  have  to  pass. 

God  ever  bless  and  keep  you. 


To 


As  the  Incarnation  of  the  Eternal  Son  Himself  had  no 
higher  end  than  the  glory  of  the  Father,  so  a  fortiori  your  life 
and  mine  have  no  end  conceivable  but  that,  and  that  alone.  But 
the  end  of  His  glory  can  only  be  attained  through  obedience, 
sanctified  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  Cross.  The  obedience  of  the 
Eternal  Son  and  His  sacrifice  are  at  once  the  pattern  and  the 
plea  of  ours.  In  Him  and  with  Him  all  vicarious  sacrifices  and 
sufferings  are  consummated  and  finished.  In  Him  every  man 
must  bear  his  own  burden.     "  No  man  may  deliver  his  brother  nor 

make  agreement  unto  God  for  him."     God  has  no  need  of ; 

nor  does  He  want ,  except  in  His  own  time  and  in  His  own 

way.     The  notion   of 's  so-called  usefulness  to  the  Church 

and  of  — ■ — 's  so-called  unusefulness  is  a  purely  human  and  short- 
sighted and  faithless  notion.     God  can  serve  His  Church  far  more 


USE   OF  GRACE.  121 

fully  by  taking away  from  work,  if  so  He  shall  see  fit,  than 

by  granting  him  strength  for  work. 

We  need  not  look  on,  except  to  be  sure  that  God  will  deal 
with  us  according  to  His  mercy  and  our  needs.  The  present 
need,  at  the  present  time,  according  to  the  present  opportunity  of 
grace,  is  what  He  would  always  have  us  satisfy.* 

*  To  prevent  possible  misconception  as  to  Mr.  Skinner's  teaching  on  the 
subject  of  Confession,  the  following  extract  is  given  from  a  pastoral  letter  to 
his  parishioners  at  Newland  : — 

Confession  of  Sin. 

"  I  offer  the  opportunity,  to  such  as  may  desire  it,  of  confession  of  sin, 
privately,  and  special  absolution  for  the  same.  I  can  but  repeat,  on  this 
subject,  what  I  said  last  year. 

"Confession  to  God,  in  secret,  is  a  necessary  part  of  repentance— not 
merely  a  confession  of  sin  on  the  whole,  but  of  separate  sins,  one  by  one,  in 
detail ;  and  therefore  confession  of  sin  to  God  is  required  in  Lent.  Confession 
of  sins  to  a  priest  is  not  a  necessary  part  of  repentance  j  but  it  is,  in  mercy, 
as  much  provided  by  the  Church  of  England,  as  by  every  other  part  of  Christ's 
Church  on  earth,  for  sin-stricken  souls.  I  am  sure  it  is  as  much  needed  in 
England  as  in  any  part  of  the  world.  For  it  is  the  assurance  to  ourselves,  not 
only  of  the  truth  and  the  shame  of  our  repentance,  but  also  of  an  admission 
to  pardon  which  the  order  of  the  priesthood  is  appointed  specially  to  convey. 
Therefore,  if  any  one  '  cannot  quiet  his  own  conscience,  but  requireth  further 
comfort  or  counsel,  let  him  come  to  me,  or  to  some  other  discreet  and  learned 
minister  of  God's  Holy  Word,  that  he  may  receive  the  benefit  of  absolution, 
together  with  ghostly  counsel  and  advice,  to  the  quieting  of  his  conscience,  and 
the  avoiding  of  all  scruple  and  doubtfulness.'  " 


CHAPTER  VII. 

LETTERS   AND   SPIRITUAL   COUNSEL — continued. 

^53- 

"  I,  loving  freedom,  and  untried  ; 
No  sport  of  every  random  gust, 
Yet  being  to  myself  a  guide, 
Too  blindly  have  reposed  my  trust  : 
And  oft,  when  in  my  heart  was  heard 
Thy  timely  mandate,  I  deferred 
The  task,  in  smoother  walks  to  stray ; 
But  thee  I  now  would  serve  more  strictly,  if  I  may. " 

It  would  be  difficult  for  any  one  to  write  letters  to  those  in 
illness  so  full  of  experience  and  sympathy  as  some  of  those 
in  the  last  chapter,  who  had  not  learnt  in  suffering  what  he 
taught.  Yet  the  writer's  own  lessons  in  that  school  were 
but  beginning.  During  1852  his  health  was  fairly  good, 
though  he  broke  down  in  July  from  overwork  in  excessive 
heat,  and  was  sent  out  of  London  by  his  doctor's  orders.  A 
short  visit  to  Guernsey  patched  him  up,  and  he  returned  to 
his  work  with  his  usual  ardour.  The  Lent  work  of  1853 
tried  him  much,  but  he  did  not  take  any  rest  until  after  St. 
Barnabas'  Day,  when  he  left  England  with  the  Bishop  of 
Columbia  for  a  short  tour  abroad.  But  at  Paris,  after  a 
fatiguing  day,  he  was  attacked  by  sudden  and  violent 
haemorrhage  from  the  lungs.  His  wife  was  sent  for  at 
once,  and  arrived,  in  the  greatest  anxiety,  to  find  him 
better  than  could  have  been  hoped  ;  still  the  attack  was 


RULE  OF  LIFE.  1 23 

so  serious,  and  had  so  enfeebled  him,  that  his  returning  to 
London  for  some  time  was  out  of  the  question.  As  soon 
as  he  could  move  he  was  sent  by  his  Paris  doctor  to  Lippe- 
Springe,  near  Paderborn,  in  Westphalia,  to  try  the  effect  of 
its  baths  and  waters,  under  a  Dr.  Bolle,  who  had  been  most 
successful  in  similar  cases.  There  he  arrived  on  August  7. 
Dr.  Bolle  took  the  warmest  interest  in  his  patient,  and 
after  four  weeks  of  treatment  at  Lippe-Springe,  Mr.  Skinner 
seemed  sufficiently  recovered  to  return  to  his  work. 

On  September  16  he  and  his  wife  were  again  at  their 
St.  Barnabas'  home  ;  but  his  doctors  pronounced  him  en- 
tirely unfit  to  set  to  work,  and  ordered  him  out  of  London 
at  once.  As  a  locum  tenens  had  been  provided,  he  was  able 
to  obey,  and  again  left  London.  Later  in  the  autumn,  he 
made  another  effort  to  resume  work,  but  it  soon  became  too 
evident  that  this  was  impossible,  and  he  decided  to  winter 
at  Clifton,  where  he  established  himself  with  his  family  in 
December,  entirely  giving  up  active  work,  except  by  corre- 
spondence. To  one  who  had  asked  him  for  a  rule  of  life, 
he  writes  : 

I  send  you  a  sketch  of  a  Rule  of  Life. 

Aim  after  accomplishing  it,  and  do  not  be  disheartened  if  you  fail. 
Aim  high,  and  begin  again  when  you  fail,  like  the  October  fly 
on  the  window  pane. 

A  Ride  of  Life. 

All  Rules  of  Life  must  be  made  to  resolve  themselves  into  six 
principal  things,  which  those  who  seek  to  please  God  must  set 
themselves  to  do  by  the  help  of  His  grace. 

I.  To  purify  their  souls  entirely  from  those  past  sins  which 
they  have  committed. 

II.  To  abstain  from  committing  new  sins. 

III.  To  fulfil,  faithfully,  all  their  duties. 


124  RULE   OF  LIFE. 

IV.  To   aim  at  the  practice,  more  and  more,  of  Christian 
graces  and  good  acts. 

V.  To  bear,  patiently,  the  evils  of  life. 

VI.  To  do  all  things  to  the  glory  of  God. 
In  detail,  aim  at  the  following : 

I.  If  you  go  to  bed  at  n,  rise  at  6.30. 
If  you  go      „       at  10,  rise  at  6. 

II.  Your  first  thought  on  waking — let  it  be  of  God. 
Your  first  emotion — an  act  of  love  to  God. 

Your  first  words — "  In  the  Name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  the  Veni  Creator. 
Your  first  action — the  Sign  of  the  Cross. 

III.  Rise,  at  once,  without  delay,  and,  having  washed,  begin 
your  prayers,  before  completing  your  toilet,  with — 

(a)  An  act  of  faith. 

(b)  „        of  adoration. 

(c)  „  of  thanksgiving.  (The  "Treasury  of  Devotion"  or 
the  "Twenty-one  Heads", will  give  you  forms.) 

(d)  An  act  of  oblation  of  yourself  to  God,  and  of  your  actions 
during  the  day,  resolving  that  you  will  not  do  anything  without 
the  thought  of  pleasing  Him. 

At  the  conclusion  of  these  acts,  make  a  resolution  to  walk  all 
the  day  as  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  pray  God  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  help  you. 

IV.  Then  go  on  with  your  dressing  :  have  a  Psalter  open  on 
your  table,  or  the  "  Imitatio,"  and  say  psalms,  or  read  a  portion  of 
the  "  Imitatio." 

At  the  end  of  your  dressing  and  before  you  go  down  to 
breakfast, 

Finish  the  rest  of  your  devotions — 

(a)  Your  confession ; 

(b)  Your  petitions ; 

(c)  Your  intercessions.  (See  the  "Treasury  of  Devotion," 
Horst's  "Paradise  of  the  Christian  Soul,"  etc.) 

And  make  an  act  of  spiritual  communion,  joining  yourself  on 
to  the  altar  of  this  church,  or  of  some  other  when  there  is  a  daily 


RULE   OF  LIFE.  125. 

celebration.     (See  the  Manual  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament.) 

V.  After  breakfast,  go  about  your  household  duties  as  unto  God, 
remembering  that  your  husband,  your  visitors,  your  servants,  are,  all, 
in  His  sight,  and  that  you  must  behave  to  them  as  in  His  presence. 

Transact  all  business,  letter-writing,  etc. 

VI.  At  noon  (any  time  between  twelve  and  two)  go  to  your 
room  for  half  an  hour,  or  an  hour  (if  you  can). 

(1)  Make  a  self-examination  of  the  day  (so  far),  and  renew  the 
resolution  of  the  morning,  for  the  remainder  of  the  day. 

(2)  If  you  should  ever  miss  making  it  now,  make  it  before 
you  dress  for  dinner. 

(3)  Read  some  portion  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  and  meditate 
upon  it.     (See  Du  Gtiesne.) 

Say  "  Sext "  or  the  Sixth  Hour.     ("  Treasury  of  Devotion.") 

VII.  Spend  the  afternoon  in — 

(a)  Visiting  sick  and  poor  to  relieve  them ; 
„        the  ignorant  to  teach  them  • 
„        friends  and  neighbours  for  Christ's  sake. 

Or  (&)  working  for  others  in  some  way. 

Or  (c)  reading  )  for   the    cultivation    of    your    mind   and   its 
or  writing  J       faculties. 

VIII.  Spend  the  evening  in  the  social  duties  of  your  home,  or 
(within  limits)  in  society  out  of  it ;  but  always  remembering  that 
God  goes  with  you  everywhere,  and  watches  your  conduct,  in- 
wardly and  outwardly,  with  His  loving  but  piercing  eyes. 

IX.  As  a  rule,  go  to  your  room  at  10  p.m.,  and — 

(1)  Begin  your  devotions,  as  in  the  morning,  with  the  four  acts. 

(2)  Then  your  self-examination  for  the  day,  always  beginning 
with  the  besetting  sin  which  you  have  set  yourself  especially  to 
overcome. 

(3)  Note  down  the  results  of  your  examination. 

(4)  Then  your  acts  as  in  the  morning — 
Of  (1)  Confession  ; 

(2)  Petition ; 

(3)  Intercession. 


126  RULE   OF  LIFE. 

X.  When  you  are  ready  for  bed,  (i)  look  at  it,  as  on  your 
grave,  and  go  into  it,  with  the  same  sense  of  going  to  God  as 
when  you  die. 

(2)  Let  your  last  thoughts,  affections,  words,  and  actions  be 
the  same  as  at  waking ;  only,  when  you  sign  yourself,  say,  "  Into 
Thy  hands  I  commend  my  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  for  Thou  hast 
redeemed  me,  O  Lord,  Thou  God  of  Truth." 

If  you  wake  fifty  times  in  the  night,  sign  yourself  again,  with 
the  same  words,  as  often  as  you  are  consciously  awake. 

For  general  counsels  take  these  : — 

1.  Communicate  every  Sunday  and  feast-day  (if  possible),  and 
always  fas  ling. 

2.  Visit  the  poor  once  a  week. 

Work  for  them  on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays. 

3.  Observe  the  Friday  fast  and  that  of  vigils. 

4.  Take  one  day  in  the  month  and  keep  it  reserved  and  quiet, 
as  a  day  of  recollection.  Examine  yourself  by  this  Rule  of  Life, 
and  mark  wherein  you  have  neglected,  or  been  lax  about  it ;  you 
will  renew  your  resolution  and  purpose  about  it. 

5.  Be  sure  to  keep  an  annual  retreat  somewhere,  and  to  make 
your  confession,  on  an  average,  not  less  than  four  times  a  year. 

6.  If  at  any  time  roused  to  anger  or  provoked,  do  not  speak, 
save  under  strong  necessity,  and  when  you  do  speak,  let  it  be  with 
gentleness  and  after  consideration. 

Do  not  visit  (except  under  a  strong  necessity)  people  who 
openly  offend  God  in  their  ways  and  habits  of  life,  and  when  you  must 
go,  let  your  visits  be  short  and  your  manner  grave  and  serious. 

There  are  two  sorts  of  persons  with  whom  you  cannot  associate 
too  much  : 

(1)  Those  whose  good  example  encourages  and  helps  you ;  and 

(2 )  Those  whom  you  believe  have  power  to  bring  you  more 
out  of  the  world  and  more  near  to  God. 

7.  Never  be  afraid  to  stand  up  for  Christ. 

Have  zeal  and  bravery  enough  always  (as  much  as  you  can)  to 
stop  all  doubtful,  loose,  and  uncharitable  conversation  in  your 
hearing.     And  when  you  cannot  hinder,  yet  have  the  courage  to 


SELF-EXAMINA  TION.  1 2J 

say  that  you  are  not  on  that  side.  If  the  position  of  those  who 
offend  hinder  you  from  an  outspoken  protest,  still  protest  by 
silence  and  gravity. 

8.  Be  careful  to  remember  that  hitman  respect  will  profit  you 
nothing. 

9.  (1)  Resist  the  temptation  to  complain  of  weather,  heat  and 
cold,  etc. 

(2)  In  these  trials,  and  in  sickness,  accept  God's  will  and  say, 
u  Thy  will  be  done,"  and  surrender  yourself  to  Him. 

10.  Be  careful  to  calculate  what  your  means  are  to  spend ;  and, 
on  principle,  devote  at  least  one-tenth  to  God. 

To  the  Same. 
On  Uncharitableness. 

If  people  would  only  examine  themselves  earnestly,  deeply, 
they  would  find  so  much  sin  in  themselves,  as  should  keep  them 
from  the  presumption  of  judging  harshly  and  censoriously  the  sins 
of  their  fellow-creatures.  Because  you  must  know,  if  you  are  true 
in  your  self-examination,  far  more  evil  of  yourself  than  you  can 
possibly  know  of  any  one  else. 

On  Self-examination. 

Make  yourself  questions.  Take  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
and  by  it  make  yourself  questions.  This  properly  done  will  bring 
in  the  commandments  6th,  7th,  and  8th. 

For  instance — 

Am  I  poor  in  spirit  ? 

Do  I  not  show  anger  at  once  if  slighted,  not  respected  or 
looked  up  to  ? 

Have  I  (if  offended)  tried  at  once  to  show  gentleness  with  a 
calm,  quiet  spirit  ? 

It  must,  of  course,  be  remembered,  in  reading  such 
letters   as   the   foregoing,   and   those   which   follow,   that, 


128  GRACE  INTERCEPTED. 

although  they  are  given  with  the  hope  that  they  may  be  of 
comfort  and  profit  to  many,  they  were  written  to  individuals 
whose  special  needs  their  adviser  knew  intimately,  and 
oueht  not  therefore  to  be  taken  as  his  measure  of  instruc- 
tion  or  advice  for  all.  This  explains  also  the  difference  in 
his  counsels  to  different  correspondents,  e.g.  as  to  confession. 
He  was  wont,  in  general,  to  speak  of  confession  as  a  great 
means  of  overcoming  such  faults  and  infirmities  as,  though 
not  "  deadly,"  yet  intercept  grace,  and  of  the  "  benefit  of 
absolution,"  as  removing  such  hindrances  to  the  full  opera- 
tion of  grace  upon  the  soul.     Upon  this  subject  he  writes  : 

Faults  which  are  of  habit  become  matter  for  more  frequent 
confession,  in  proportion  to  their  power  of  intercepting  grace. 

It  is  a  mere  truism  to  say  that  a  habit  (say)  of  forgetting  the 
Divine  Presence,  or  of  omitting  spiritual  reading,  etc.,  must  more 
or  less  hinder  grace.     Consider  some  such  help  as  this  : 

i.  Your  breach  of  rule,  by  omission  or  by  commission,  daybyday. 

2.  Did  conscience  remind  you  of  it,  and  how  often  ?  Was  con- 
science instantly  obeyed  ?    Or  was  it  put  off?    Or  was  it  stifled  ? 

3.  Did  any  person  remind  you  of  it,  or  of  any  other  fault  ?  Or 
did  any  circumstance  remind  you  of  it  ?    And, 

(a)  Were  you  humbled  ?    And, 

(/>)  Were  you  improved  ?    Or, 

(c)  Were  you  only  irritated,  vexed,  or  put  out  ? 

4.  Your  speech — was  it  hasty,  or  inaccurate,  or  impatient,  or 
censorious,  or  complaining?-  Or  was  it  unnecessary  talk  which 
could  do  no  good  and  might  do  mischief. 

Make  up  your  account  at  the  usual  time,  and  put  it  aside  ;  I 
don't  mean  forget  it — God  forbid — but  do  not  let  it  impede  you 
from  a  fresh  start  and  a  renewal  of  hope,  and  another  "Nunc 
capi."  Keep  it  by  you,  till  you  can  see  your  regular  confessor, 
laying  it  down  meanwhile  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and  beginning 
promptly  and  faithfully  again. 


ROMAN  DIFFICUL  TIES.  1 2 9 

Read  as  a  help  to  meditation  upon  your  needs,  the   "  De 
Imitatione,"  lib.  ii.  c.  2,  "  de  Humili  Submissions" 
"  Dei  est  adjuvare  et  ab  o?nni  confusione  liber  are" 


To 


I  deprecate  changes  in  a  Confessor,  as  highly  as  man  can  do ; 
but  then,  I  mean  change  for  change's  sake.  When  a  soul  needs  to 
be  unburdened  and  set  free,  and  has  no  access  to  its  accustomed 
spiritual  helper,  the  healthy  and  the  natural  course  would  be  to 
call  in  the  nearest  and  best  that  can  be  had.  It  is  by  no  means 
the  least  of  the  blessing  of  doing  this,  that  one  practises  one's  self 
against  the  temptation  to  lean  upon  special  instruments,  rather 
than  upon  Christ  alone. 

Do  not  allow  yourself  to  be  agitated  unduly  in  the  act  of  con- 
fession; because  this  excessive  emotion  impairs  the  lucidity  and 
clearness  of  your  self-accusation,  while  it  adds  nothing  to  the 
element  of  contrition.  I  think  we  are  more  really  in  the  spirit  of 
contrition  (that  is,'  of  sorrowing  love)  when  we  are  calm,  and 
collected,  and  restrained,  and  distinct  and  specific  in  our  sentence 
against  ourselves. 

The  two  following  letters  are  to  people  unsettled  in 
their  allegiance  to  the  English  Church ;  the  first  being  to 
one  whom  he  had  advised  to  seek  an  interview  with  a 
distinguished  English  theologian  : — 

I  do  not  decide  whether  it  would  have  profited  you  or  no  to 
have  seen  Dr.  Pusey ;  but  it  was  a  duty  for  the  omission  of  which 
you  have  offered  no  adequate  reason.  That  you  were  "  surprised" 
by  his  letter,  and  disappointed  by  his  arguments,  was  not  con- 
clusive that  you  understood  him ;  still  less  were  your  notions  of 
what  Dissenters  say,  and  your  imagination  of  Dr.  Pusey's  rule  of 
faith,  so  necessarily  accurate,  that,  in  so  momentous  a  matter,  you 
could  dispense  with  the  common  justice  of  hearing  him  out.  But 
it  is  the  course  which  others  have  taken  before  you,  first,  to  form  a 

K 


130  NATIONAL   CHURCHES. 

will  and  a.  purpose  for  themselves,  and  then  to  hurry  on  with  it 
without  justice  to  others. 

I  cannot  understand  Dr.  Pusey  as  you  have  done,  or  else  I 
differ  with  him  as  much  nearly  as  yourself.  In  one  sense,  surely, 
different  Churches — the  Churches,  that  is,  of  different  nations  and 
people ;  such  Churches  in  plurality  as  St.  Paul  speaks  of  when  he 
says,  "The  Churches  of  Christ  salute  you" — in  one  sense,  surely, 
different  Churches  are  parts  of  Christ's  mystical  Body,  and  so 
parts  that  in  no  other  way  can  Christ's  mystical  Body  be  made  up. 
For  in  no  other  way  but  by  a  union  of  distinct  members,  can  a 
Body  be  composed.  And  so,  too,  the  various  members  of  the  Body 
may  co-exist  in  various  conditions  of  vigour  and  energy,  and  even 
of  soundness.  Just  as  a  limb  or  an  eye  may  be  infirm  without 
losing  all  the  life  which  flows  in  common  through  the  body. 

Thus  the  Churches  of  Jerusalem,  and  Antioch,  and  Crete,  and 
Ephesus,  etc.,  were  all  distinct  Churches  in  one  sense,  being  parts 
or  members  of  the  Body,  and  yet  they  were  all  one  as  being  the 
Body  collectively.  They  were  not  the  Body,  each  by  itself;  they 
were  but  parts  or  members  ;  they  were  only  the  Body,  together. 

Now,  it  is  only  plain  truth,  plain  alike  in  fact  and  in  common 
sense,  to  say  that  the  plenary  inspiration  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  promised,  and  is  granted  solely  and  alone,  to  the  whole  Body 
of  Christ.  Do  not  slur  this  over.  Take  the  passages  of  Scripture 
which  you  quote  further  on  to  support  your  peculiar  claims  for 
Rome — "Another  Comforter  with  you  for  ever"  "The  Spirit  of 
Truth  to  guide  you  into  all  truth,"  "to  teach  you  all  things,  etc." 
To  whom  were  these  words  spoken?  To  whom  were  they 
fulfilled  ?  To  the  whole  college  of  apostles,  the  whole  Body  of 
Christ.  And  so,  the  whole  Body  of  Christ  can  never  err.  And  so, 
the  Spirit  of  Truth  abides  in  it  for  ever.  But  the  parts  of  that 
Body  need  not  be,  and  have  not  been,  all  alike  saved  from  error. 
The  earliest  errors  which  crept  into  the  Church  affected  some 
Churches  much,  others  a  little,  others  not  at  all.  And  they  were 
errors  which  struck  deep  at  fundamental  truth — the  Gnostic  heresies 
first,  and  later  on  the  Arian.  Yet  this  partial  corruption,  while,  of 
course,  it   weakened   all,  never  either   altogether   destroyed  the 


PROMISE   TO    WHOLE   CHURCH.  131 

parts,  or  in  the  least  degree  undermined  the  whole.  When  the 
Holy  Spirit  was  poured  out  upon  the  Church  there  was  no  such 
system  set  up  with  it,  as  Rome  has  since  set  up  for  herself — a 
system  which  destroys  the  integrity  of  the  parts  of  Christ's 
mystical  Body  while  it  carnalizes  the  whole ;  but  the  Holy  Spirit 
came  down  upon  the  twelve  and  filled  the  room  where  they  were 
sitting.  It  came  down  to  illuminate  and  guide  the  whole  Body, 
as  a  whole ;  and  only  as  a  whole  was  that  a  guidance  and  an 
illumination  for  ever.  One  apostle  was  not  above  another,  nor 
one  Church  in  subjection  to  another.  St.  Peter  was  not  St.  James's 
master,  nor  Jerusalem  subservient  to  Antioch.  All  the  rulers  of 
the  Churches  were  equal  in  their  share  of  that  gift,  and  only  as 
they  drew  off  and  separated  one  from  the  other,  and  claimed  to 
teach  apart,  could  the  permanency  and  the  profit  of  it  fail.  But 
the  various  Churches  soon  began  to  teach  apart,  some  in  this 
way  and  some  in  that ;  and  some  fell  besides  into  deadly  sins  (as 
the  Churches  of  Asia  Minor) ;  and  just  so,  and  in  the  measure  of 
their  several  defections  from  the  common  faith  and  teaching  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Churches  of  Christendom  were  more  or  less 
inspired. 

I  cannot,  therefore,  understand  Dr.  Pusey,  as  you  do,  to  say  that 
"the  Holy  Spirit  does  not  teach  the  same  doctrine  to  all."  But  I 
understand  him  to  say  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  taught  all,  and 
taught  all  the  same,  and  all  have,  or  might  have,  what  the  Holy 
Spirit  taught :  but  that  while  the  Holy  Spirit  has  thus  brought 
all  in  one,  man  and  his  evil  master  have  ever  been  seeking  to  drive 
all  asunder ;  that  they  have  too  well  succeeded ;  that  doctrines 
not  taught  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  because  not  taught  to  all,  have  been 
taught  by  some,  and  so  it  has  been  brought  to  pass,  as  Dr.  Pusey 
says,  "  that  some  has  been  permitted  to  fall  into  error." 

You  seem  to  me  partly  not  to  do  Dr.  Pusey's  statements  justice, 
and  partly  not  to  understand  them.  Surely  there  must  be  a 
degree  of  inspiration  short  of  plenary  inspiration,  else  you  and  I 
would  be  individually  infallible.  All  inspiration,  therefore,  from 
God  the  Holy  Ghost  (speaking  ordinarily)  which  is  not  the  in- 
spiration of  the  whole  Body  of  Christ  acting  together,  is  short  of 


132  FRUITS  OF  DIVISION. 

plenary  inspiration.  The  division  of  Christendom  is  a  fact  which 
you  must  face,  account  for  it  as  you  may.  I  am  not  authorized  to 
explain  it,  any  more  than  you.  But  I  must  demur  to  the  com- 
placency with  which  Roman  Catholics  arrogate  to  themselves  all 
the  right,  and  attribute  to  the  rest  of  the  Christian  world  all  the 
wrong.  The  truth  is,  mankind  is  altogether  wicked,  and  our 
divisions  are  our  great  wickednesses  and  their  fruits.  Yet  God  is 
gracious  and  bears  with  the  most  wicked,  even  while  He  punishes. 
In  whatever  degree  the  people  of  the  Roman  Church,  or  the 
Russian  Church,  or  the  English  Church  have  sinned  against  God 
(and  I  suppose  all  have  so  sinned  grievously),  there  is  punishment 
for  them.  And  one  punishment  which  we  see  and  recognize  is — 
religious  division.  Now  the  origin  and  course  of  that  division 
reveal  themselves.  There  could  not  be  division  under  plenary 
inspiration.  Under  plenary  inspiration  the  Roman  and  the 
Russian  and  the  English  Church  were  one ;  in  common  with  the 
rest  of  Christ's  mystical  Body,  they  were  made  depositaries  of  the 
common  faith.  This  common  gift  was  to  be  the  common  bond 
and  the  common  pledge  of  their  illumination  to  the  end  of  the 
world.  The  origin  of  division,  therefore,  and  the  departure  of 
plenary  inspiration  in  this  or  that  Church,  were  contemporaneous. 
Pride  and  the  grieving  of  God's  Spirit  and  the  course  of  such 
division  lay  along  the  line  of  separate  teaching — teaching  either 
short  of  or  beyond  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints. 

To . 


.  .  .  You  must  take  your  utter  dissatisfaction  with  yourself  as  a 
good  sign,  if  it  make  you  humble,  and  resigned  to  have  nothing  to 
offer  but  an  earnest  will,  amid  continued  beginnings  and  little 
progress.  You  have  the  infinite  and  inexhaustible  merits  of  the 
Cross  to  offer ;  and  we  cannot  too  soon  learn  how,  when  all  is 
done,  there  is  nothing  worth  God's  acceptance  but  those  !  You 
are  not  a  "  humbug,"  if  you  have  nothing  to  say  to  God  but  the 
"  old,  old  story  "  of  your  utter  helplessness  and  shortcomings,  so 
long  as  you  are  conscious  of  giving  Him  your  heart  and  will,  and 
trying  to  prove  your  love  by  your   obedience   and   submission. 


FAITH  IN  THE    WHOLE   CHURCH  1 33 

You  are  only  a  "  humbug  "  when  you  go  to  Him  pretending  to 
love  Him,  and  to  honour  Him,  and  to  try  to  please  Him,  when, 
all  the  while,  you  know  you  are  only  bent  upon  glorifying  and 
pleasing  yourself.  .  .  . 

As  to  your  "  faith  in  the  English  Church,"  which  you  say  you 
are  "losing:"  I  should  like  to  hear  in  what  "Church"  you  are 
gaini?ig  faith  !  Try  and  see  that  "English"  is  but  an  accident 
which  may  change,  and  does  change  with  the  English  wind,  but 
to  which  we  attach  nothing  of  "faith."  The  Church  is  the  Body 
of  Christ — the  same  in  its  integral  elements,  all  the  world  over ; 
and  it  is  in  that  wherein  you  have  "  faith  "  which  can  never  be 
shaken,  because  that  can  never  be  changed.  God  has  made  you 
an  Englishwoman.  Well,  that  is  an  accident  over  which  you 
have  no  control ;  you  cannot  change  it :  so  you  must  accept  it, 
with  all  its  advantages  and  ^advantages.  You  cannot  make 
yourself  a  Roman  seeing  that  God  has  willed  you  to  be  something 
else.  But  "  the  Body  of  Christ,"  though  in  England  it  must  bear 
the  trial  (as  our  Lord  did  in  the  flesh  in  Judaea)  of  English  unbe- 
lief and  carelessness  and  profanity,  is  not  really  affected  by  it. 
It  is  not  changed  by  it,  and  it  remains  to  you  the  home  of  your 
soul,  in  which  you  trust,  and  in  which  you  wait  till  you  are  released 
altogether  from  faith  and  enter  into  enjoyment  and  possession. 

If  you  saw  as  much  as  I  have  seen  of  the  Roman,  and  French, 
and  Spanish  accidents,  infesting  and  affecting  the  Body  of  Christ 
in  what  is  called  (by  a  contradiction  in  terms)  "  Roman  Catholic 
countries,"  you  would  admit  that  our  English  accidents  are  not 
half  so  mischievous  in  their  direct  dishonour  to  God.  What  we 
all  want  is — (1)  a  spirit  of  love  and  patience  to  help  us,  each  in 
our  place,  to  bear  with  the  separate  and  the  common  trials  of  our 
probation  in  the  world;  and  (2)  a  spirit  of  zeal  and  devotion  and 
gratitude  to  make  the  most  of  these  means  of  access  to  the  powers 
of  grace  and  holiness  which  we  possess. 


The  four  letters  which  follow  are  evidences  of  careful 
chir 
for  it : 


teaching  in  the  midst  of  weakness  to  those   who   asked 


134  LIGHT  GAINED  BY  LOVE. 

To . 

It  has  pleased  God  to  give  you  largely  the  gift  of  faith  ;  while 
you  have  it  you  must  diligently  use  it.  One  way  is — think,  how  if 
you  had  it  not?  and  so  brace  yourself  to  hold  on  to  it  as  your 
only  hope.  The  mystery  of  one  having  it,  and  another  not  having 
it,  is  not  to  be  inquired  into ;  but  perpetual  thanksgiving  is  due 
from  those  who  have  it.  It  is  a  help  and  protection  against  the 
evil  of  doubt,  to  make  a  thanksgiving  for  the  faith  which  for  you 
raises  all  questions  into  a  sphere  where  nothing  can  touch  that 
faith  if  you  keep  close  to  the  Creeds,  about  which  we  are  safest 
when  not  speculating.  We  are  all  most  safe  when  trying  to 
live  up  to  our  faith.  God's  presence  is  not  theory:  it  is  life. 
You  become  conscious  of  it  by  doing  His  will.  "  He  that 
doeth,"  etc. 

You  cannot  be  too  careful  about  renewing  all  rules  of  life,  and 
watching  where  most  you  fail.  You  are  most  sure  of  God  keeping 
you  in  the  faith  when  doing  His  will — most  of  all  when  keeping 
the  cardinal  law  of  love.  "  On  these  two  commandments  hang 
all  the  Law  and  the  Prophets."  "  Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
law."  Every  breach  of  love,  therefore,  is  a  weakening  of  our  hold 
of  the  kingdom  both  of  light  and  love. 

You  continually  sin  against  love  without  meaning  it ;  running 
the  risk  of  offending  God  through  the  wish  of  being  agreeable,  etc. 
Make  an  act  of  humility  from  time  to  time,  seeing  you  waste  the 
grace  He  gives — waste  it  without  meaning  to  do  so.  If  our  hands 
were  full  of  gold  dust,  we  should  lose  it  even  if  we  did  not  mean 
to  do  so,  unless  careful  not  to  let  it  slip  through  our  fingers :  so  it 
is  quite  possible,  without  meaning  it,  to  waste  grace  and  the  power 
of  love.  Therefore  make  faults,  such  as  wandering  in  prayer  from 
laxity  or  negligence,  subjects  for  great  humility — for  acts  of 
humility.  Say,  "Omy  God,  I  lay  this  before  Thee  as  an  evidence 
of  my  sorrow ;  accept  this  my  humiliation  ;  join  it  to  the  humiliation 
of  Thy  dear  Son  upon  the  cross."  So,  also,  when  you  speak 
disparagingly  of  others.  When  we  can't  praise,  we  should  be 
silent,  and  not  speak  of  infirmities  and  faults,  especially  of  grave 


GRACE  AND  NATURE.  1 35 

ones  :  contempt  of  speaking  of  others  is  a  great  sin.  Take  those 
counsels  with  respect  to  faith  and  the  life;  both  are  sustained 
by  watching  over  little  things,  especially  those  you  fail  in. 

Note  this  general  rule,  which  you  do  not  keep  in  mind.  You 
should  fix  yourself  on  the  Giver  rather  than  on  the  grace  which  He 
gives.  Whether  grace  be  given  more  or  less,  it  will  not  affect 
your  spiritual  barometer.  Don't  dwell  unduly  on  whether  you 
profit  little  or  much  ;  your  duty  to  the  Giver  is  all  the  same.  He 
gives  the  feeling  of  profit  and  takes  it  away.  You  are  depressed  ; 
you  think  you  are  less  in  favour.  Let  your  mind  be  fixed  on  the 
Giver.  Of  earthly  blessings  we  say,  "The  Lord  gave  and  the  Lord 
hath  taken  away  : "  so  we  should  say  of  gifts  of  grace. 

To . 


.  .  .  There  are  in  you  two  motive  powers,  that  of  grace,  and 
that  of  nature ;  and  you  are  more  governed  by  the  power  of  nature 
than  by  that  of  grace.  You  have  to  overcome  also  your  natural 
temperament.  Love  of  self  is  at  the  root.  The  opposite  power  of 
grace  is  a  supernatural  gift ;  you  must  pray  more  and  more  for  it ; 
only  so  can  you  overcome.  Try  and  work  it  out  by  closer  medita- 
tion—that there  are  these  two  powers,  and  that  you  are  too  much 
governed  by  the  one,  too  little  by  the  other.  Strive  to  overcome 
and  to  grow.  Fiat  voluntas  tua  would  embody  all.  What  a 
mistake  it  is  to  suppose  that  we  are  unacceptable  to  God  because 
in  illness  we  cannot  perform  all  our  devotions  !  To  lie  still  and 
say,  "  Thy  blessed  will  be  done,"  is  sufficient — no  effort  of  head  is 
necessary  for  that.  In  any  disappointment,  even  trifling,  say  that 
"  Fiat.''''  He  is  pleased  to  exercise  you  continually,  and  all  may 
depend  on  whether  you  accept  unreservedly  whatever  He  may 
appoint  for  you. 

Take  another  thought,  and  carry  it  about  with  you :  that  all  is 
acceptable  to  God  according  as  to  whether  we  do  all  in  a  spirit  of 
compunction.  Our  habitual  spirit  ought  not  to  be  one  of  doubt, 
but  of  contrition.  Cultivate  it ;  consider  for  a  moment  what 
a  life  of  ingratitude  yours  must  seem  to  God,  yet  if  you  bring  Him 
a  contrite  heart  He  asks  no  more ;  and  the  spirit  of  contrition  is 


136  OMISSIONS. 

the  spirit  of  peace ;  the  humble  soul  does  not  ask  more.     Never 
be  disheartened ;  look  forward  cheerfully,  start  afresh. 

Take  the  fourteenth  book  and  fifty-fourth  chapter  of  the 
"  Imitatio ; "  it  contains  a  categorical  statement  of  the  opposing 
forces  of  nature  and  of  grace.  There  are  sixteen  propositions  as 
to  the  working  of  nature  as  opposed  to  the  work  of  grace.  Draw 
it  out  in  writing ;  so  you  will  have  a  clear  picture  of  self  as  nature 
moves  you,  and  of  grace  which  fails  to  move  you.  Make  use  of 
this  for  self-examination,  and  resolution,  and  prayer.  The  fifty- 
fifth  chapter  is  a  prayer ;  use  it  at  least  once  a  week.  In  that 
way  you  may  gain  a  fresh  flood  of  light  to  see  the  difference 
between  what  grace  would  have  you  be  and  what  you  are  by 
nature,  and  to  perceive  that  you  are  not  sufficiently  careful  to 
draw  to  yourself  God's  grace  and  love — that  you  go  on  carelessly 
in  natural  ways. 

To . 


I.  Of  course,  wilful  or  known,  and  not  made  up,  breaches  of 
rule,  as  to  examen  and  devotions,  are  "negligences"  to  be  con- 
fessed. In  sickness,  the  loving  soul  does  not  neglect  them,  but 
keeps  them  as  best  she  can,  by  an  act  of  the  will,  if  every  other 
power  should  fail.  You  are  accepted,  "according  to  what  you 
have — not  according  to  what  you  have  not." 

II.  Your  sense  of  uneasiness  under  omissions,  and  your  con- 
sciousness of  xhzjight  to  keep  up  your  examen,  are  signs  of  God's 
blessed  Spirit  uniting  with  your  spirit  to  overcome  the  tempter. 
Thank  Him  for  such  signs ;  pray  that  you  may  never  be  without 
them,  till  all  need  for  them  shall  be  removed. 

III.  Impatience  with  the  stupidity  of  a  servant,  and  im- 
patience under  barrenness  of  spiritual  condition,  are  the  two 
extremes  of  the  same  line  of  evil — inordinate  love  of  self. 
Patience  is  the  test  of  unselfish  love  for  God  alone.  Why  is  it 
difficult,  as  you  say,  to  "rejoice  "  always?  Because  you  only  then 
know  what  true  joy  is  when  you  can  welcome  tribulation  and 
privation  and  suffering.  "For  the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him, 
He  endured  the  cross."     So  long  as  you  look  upon  loss,  and  trial, 


EXERCISE   OF  HUMILITY.  1 37 

and  discomfort,  and  sorrow 'as  miseries  to  be  avoided  and  escaped 
from,  you  will  be  a  stranger  to  joy. 

IV.  Whenever  you  feel  weary  and  dejected,  and  out  of  heart 
from  any  cause — besides  sin — in  yourself  or  in  others,  in  Church 
or  State,  meditate  carefully  for  half  an  hour  upon  the  last  chapter 
of  the  second  book  of  the  "  Imitatio,"  the  "  Regia  Via  Crucis." 
God  be  with  you.     Amen. 

To . 

Take  three  days  a  week  for  a  month,  and  on  each  of  these 
days  consider,  before  you  begin  your  mid-day  prayers,  as  follows  : — 

I.  That,  notwithstanding  the  diversity  of  thoughts  and 
opinions  among  men,  all  agree  in  these  : 

(a)  That  no  man  is  low  in  his  own  opinion  of  himself; 

(b)  That  no  one  likes  to  yield  to,  or  submit  himself  to  others ; 

(c)  That  no  one,  however  humble,  does  not  think  he  deserves 
to  be  well  thought  of; 

(d)  That  all  are  anxious  to  excel  their  neighbours ; 

„  „  to  pardon  their  own  faults ; 

,,  „  not  easily  to  pardon  others ; 

,,  ,,  to  keep  their  own  opinions ; 

,,  „  to  admire  their  own  goods ; 

„  „  to  approve  their  own  plans  and  dis- 

parage others ; 
„  „  to     make     their     ignorance     appear 

wisdom,  and  to  affect  to  know  all 
when  they  know  nothing. 
This  is  not  very  wonderful,  considering  the  selfishness  of  men. 
But— 

II.  It  is  wonderful  that  even  righteous  men,  who"  seem  to  love 
God  and  to  desire  His  honour  above  all,  do  secretly  indulge  in 
self-conscious  thoughts,  and  resolve  everything  by  an  appeal  to 
self,  doing  even  what  is  right,  not  with  the  end  of  pleasing  God, 
but  for  the  enjoyment  to  themselves  of  a  consciousness  of  duty. 
And  the  holier  and  higher  the  duty,  the  more  subtle  and  powerful 
is  this  tendency  of  self-love. 


138  USE   OF  SICKNESS. 

III.   1.  Read  1  Cor.  xiii.,  and  compare  Haggai  i.  6. 

2.  Make  a  confession  of  your  life-long  weakness,  in  respect  of 
absolute  simple  love  to  God  as  a  motive. 

3.  Make  a  resolution  to  do  and  bear  all  out  of  love  and  in 
forgetfulness  of  self. 

4.  Say  the  Collects  for  Whit-Sunday  and  Quinquagesima,  and 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Angelus. 

Most  of  the  "  spiritual  letters,"  as  they  may  be  called, 
contributed  to  this  volume,  have  been  sent  anonymously  ; 
those  which  follow  appear  to  have  been  written  to  one  in 
illness  or  weakness. 

Of  course  it  is  possible  to  perform  self-examination  per- 
functorily, so  that  it  becomes  a  deceit  instead  of  a  help  to  the 
soul.  But  generally,  certainly  for  you,  it  is  a  rule  that  in  propor- 
tion as  you  let  yourself  be  hindered  in  self-examination,  so  far  you 
are  not  faithful  to  grace  received.  That  is  a  practical  test  as  to 
whether  you  are  improving  grace  or  losing  it. 

There  are,  of  course,  degrees  of  time  and  detail,  of  infirmity 
and  occupation,  into  which  I  do  not  enter;  many  things  may 
hinder  length  or  detail,  but  the  thing  itself  is  a  test  by  which  to 
measure  one's  self.  In  hearing  of  others'  unbelief,  prayer  for  them 
is  our  own  safeguard  :  we  should  think  of  them  as  withered  trees, 
which  yet  may  be  revived  by  grace  won  by  prayer. 

The  difficulties  which  have  hindered  you  in  performing  your 
spiritual  obligations  were  all  details  brought  on  you  by  Almighty 
God — His  way  for  you.  "  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them 
that  fear  Him."  When  He  chose  the  house  of  sickness,  and 
anxiety,  and  strain  for  you,  it  was  His  way ;  in  that  way  He  was 
revealing  Himself.  The  question  is,  Did  you  take  it  in  ?  Your 
great  failing  has  been  that,  instead  of  opening  your  mouth  that  He 
might  fill  it,  and  your  heart  that  He  might  come  in,  you  were 
tempted  to  lament,  to  think  how  cut  off  you  were  from  spiritual 
privileges.  He  could  have  brought  you  to  more  sanctity  by  your 
want  of  them.     Be  sure  that  He  is  not  angry  with  you,  but  that 


SUBMISSION  IN  ILLNESS.  1 39 

He  is  providing  you  with  something  fresh  to  make  you  sit  loose  to 
the  world  and  all  worldly  things,  and  all  the  world's  ways.  Try 
and  think  less  of  difficulties  and  hindrances,  and  see  only  His 
hand  in  all :  "  him  shall  He  teach  in  the  way  that  He  shall 
choose" — not  in  your  way,  but  in  His  way.  "Them  that  are 
meek  shall  He  guide  in  judgment:"  all  your  judgments  and 
will  must  be  brought  under  Him.  So  you  will  be  able  to  rejoice 
in  difficulties — the  love  of  Him  filling  your  heart. 

Make,  then,  a  fresh  beginning  of  self-examination ;  let  it  be  a 
test,  not  of  formality,  but  as  to  your  standing  in  the  kingdom  of 
grace.  Next,  look  on  the  past  as  a  page  of  holy  meditation  and 
spiritual  reading,  wherein  to  see  God's  choice  for  you.  Keep  it 
before  you  as  His  way  of  teaching  and  bringing  you  nearer,  as 
being  best  for  you — the  simplest  and  purest  indication  of  love. 
Meditate  upon  it,  as  a  subject  for  humiliation  that  you  were  not 
able  to  take  it  up,  but  that  now  you  will  try  to  do  so. 


There  can  be  no  doubt  about  one  thing — that  God  is  minded 
to  prove  you  ;  as  in  other  ways,  so  especially  through  bodily  suffer- 
ing and  infirmity ;  and  that,  if  human  means  fail  to  relieve  you  of 
it,  it  is  because  He  wills  the  infirmity  to  remain.  What  a  relief 
there  is  in  this,  and  how  it  compensates  for  all  the  mistakes  and 
false  hopes  of  men  !  You  are  in  the  hands  of  the  All-loving  and 
the  All-wise ;  and  you  are  far  happier  to  be  an  invalid  with  Him 
near,  than  to  be  the  strongest  and  the  ruddiest  among  those  who 
are  farther  off  from  Him. 

I  will  prepare  for  you,  if  I  can,  against  Lent,  some  simple  and 
easy  exercises  of  the  great  and  unspeakable  grace  of  "  abandon  " 
to  God.  Meantime,  I  would  advise  you  to  lay  yourself  open,  with 
absolute  passivity,  day  by  day,  and  every  day,  and  all  day,  to  all 
that  is  meant  by  the  call  to  bear  His  will — "  O  God,  I  have  now 
nothing  to  do  but  to  love  and  bear." 

Do  not  fidget  yourself  and  fret  because  your  devotions,  in 
letter  and  spirit,  are  scantier,  and  poorer,  and  less  regular  and 
fervent  than  you  like.     This  is  a  scare  from  the  proud  spirit  of 


140  SPIRITUAL  DEPRIVATIONS. 

evil.  Appeal  to  the  Spirit  of  good,  who  will  reconcile  you  to  be 
content  to  pray  and  to  read  for  years  without  fruit,  with  St. 
Antony,  and  St.  Francis,  and  St.  Teresa,  and  St.  Catherine,  etc. 
Remember  that  the  Holy  Spirit  makes  more  and  greater  saints 
through  patience  and  humility,  than  through  energy  and  zeal. 
Patient  suffering  in  soul  and  body  is  the  gate  of  heaven.  You  are 
brought  into  conformity  with  the  risen  Jesus  only  and  in  such 
measure  as  you  are  conformed  to  Him  in  patience  under  the  cross. 

I  very  lately  saw  a  letter  from  a  dear  friend  of  mine,  a  Roman 
Catholic,  who  is  a  greater  invalid  than  you  just  now,  and  entirely 
shut  up  and  off  from  everything  spiritual  and  temporal  in  the  way 
of  refreshment.  I  was  much  struck  by  her  words,  and  I  noted 
some  of  them  for  your  benefit,  because  they  seemed  to  me  exactly 
what  you  want  to  hear  again,  and  from  an  independent  source. 

"  I  have   been   now  ten   days  without  even  going  down  to 

chapel  (in  the  house)  for  Holy  Communion.     The  Pere  M 

won't  let  me  even  speak  of  it  as  a  privation — '  Le  bon  Dieu  peut 
bien  se  communiquer  autrement  que  par  le  Sacrement,  quand  il 
en  prive  une  ame.  La  souffrance  est  en  elle-meme  un  moyen 
d'union  a  Dieu ; '  and  I  feel  every  day  the  truth  of  what  the 
Pere  says ;  for  I  have  never  been  more  completely  shut  out  from 
everything,  even  from  reading ;  and  I  have  never  been  happier. 
There  seems  nothing  in  the  world  left  for  me  but  to  desire  to  love 
God  better.  The  Pere  came  to  me  the  other  day  and  told  me 
he  thought  I  must  resign  myself  to  not  going  out  at  all,  but  to 
keep  my  cellule  through  the  winter.  '  Vous  menerez  un  peu  la 
vie  d'un  Chartreux ;  qu'est  ce  que  vous  pouvez  demander  de 
mieux  ? '  he  said  with  a  radiant  look,  as  if  it  were  the  brightest 
and  happiest  life  possible ;  and  he  left  me  feeling  as  if  it  were. 
Everything  in  life  may  be  made  use  of,  as  means  towards  the 
end,  that  is,  the  service  and  glory  of  God ;  and  an  indication  of 
the  Divine  will  that  one  thing  may  be  more  a  means  than  another 
thing  is  the  only  reason  for  a  preference.  So,  if  ill  health  is  more 
a  means  to  the  end,  one  prefers  it,  or,  as  the  Pere  Provincial  once 
said  to  me,  "  If  it  seems  God's  will  to  draw  you  close  to  Him- 
self par  la  vote  des  privations  dans  les  choses  spirituelles,  even  the 


PATIENT  WAITING.  141 

privation  becomes,  in  a  way,  sweeter  than  the  abundance  would 
be.'  They  always  say  in  public  troubles,  '  Le  bon  Dieu  est 
toujours  la. ;  tenons  nous  prets  a  tout,  faisons  ce  que  nous  pouvons 
pour  eloigner  le  mal ;  et  Dieu  saura  bien  tirer  sa  gloire  de  tout  ce 

qui  arrive.'     Pere  M always  says,  'Pray  and  prepare,  but  do 

not  trouble.  II  ne  faut  pas  vouloir  presser  le  bon  Dieu,'  and 
this  quiets  me  when  I  get  impatient." 

These  words  signify  the  same  thing  that  I  have  very  often 
urged  upon  you,  but  I  send  them  because  they  come  from  an 
independent  source,  and  are  very  comforting.  Whenever  you 
are  tempted  to  impatience  say,  "II  ne  faut  pas  vouloir  presser  le 
bon  Dieu." 

God  ever  bless  and  keep  you. 


What  I  seem  to  see  about  that  passage  of  your  life  is  that  there 
was  an  inordinate  strain  on  your  physical  powers,  and  that  there 
was  not  in  you  that  patience  and  submission,  and  open-mouthed 
receptivity,  which  there  ought  to  have  been.  It  was  His  provi- 
dence which  brought  the  greater  strain  upon  you,  and  there  was 
not  a  responsive  readiness  on  your  part.  Indeed,  what  we  should 
try  for  when  He  visits  us  within  or  without,  by  sickness  in  our- 
selves or  in  others,  by  temptation  or  desolation  or  barrenness,  is 
to  aim  at  stirring  up  an  answer  of  patience  and  love  like  Job's 
"  Though  He  slay  me,"  etc.  And  what  seems  to  me  is  that  you  are 
chiefly  wanting  in  simplicity  of  patient  waiting  on  God.  Your 
natural  activity  of  character  leads  you  to  be  anxious  to  compass 
even  the  best  ends  in  some  other  way  than  His.  But  we  are 
safest  when  the  expression  of  our  heart  is,  "I  will  lie  still."  Your 
natural  impulse  is  to  do  something  active  to  compass  what  you 
think  within  reach,  when  it  may  not  be  so,  and  that  has  a  ten- 
dency to  bring  you  into  collision  with  God  instead  of  into  harmony 
with  Him.  The  simplicity  of  patience  touches  the  depth  of  your 
difficulties.  The  tendency  to  speak  rashly  of  others  arises  from 
the  same  cause  ;  not,  God  forbid,  from  malice  or  unlove,  but  from 
a  restless  activity  wanting  to  make  everything  square  with  your 


I42  PEACE. 

own  views.    And  so,  dear ,  there  is  a  continual  tendency  to  relax 

your  rule,  partly  from  a  strain  on  your  physical  powers,  which  I 
think  you  might  sometimes  avoid  by  husbanding  them  better,  so 
as  to  be  ready  for  spiritual  things.  It  is  much  more  important  to 
be  ready  for  spiritual  reading  and  other  obligations,  than  to  do 
many  things.  Sometimes  you  cannot  help  it,  and  then  you  must 
offer  it  to  God. 

Next,  there  is  a  want  of  simple  patience  in  your  attitude 
of  mind.  Most  of  all,  the  old  taint  of  self-love,  that  root  of 
bitterness  in  so  many  of  us,  making  us  speak  rashly  of  others.  If 
we  had  always  before  us  a  sense  of  our  own  vileness  we  could  not 
feel  inclined  to  speak  so  of  others. 

Take  the  thirty-fourth  Psalm  with  this  spiritual  intention.  The 
keynote  and  burden  of  that  Psalm  is,  "  Come,  ye  children,"  etc. 
Let  then  that  be  the  aim  of  your  soul,  to  learn  more  deeply  and  truly 
what  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is.  To  put  it  in  a  practical  form  :  we 
may  see  one  way  in  guarding  the  tongue.  "  What  man  is  he  .  .  . 
let  him  refrain  his  tongue  from  evil."  And  then,  "seek  peace 
and  ensue  it."  Make  a  little  meditation  on  those  two  words, 
"peace  "  and  "  ensue."  Peace  with  God,  with  yourself,  with  your 
neighbour.  Seek  them  as  an  evidence  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord — 
not  a  slavish  fear,  but  a  filial  fear,  bringing  peace  with  Him,  and 
yourself,  and  others.  There  can  be  none  without  a  guarded 
tongue.  Censure  of  others,  and,  still  worse,  inaccurate  words  or 
unloving  words  of  others,  are  all  hindrances  to  peace ;  avoid  all 
evil-speaking.  And  then  ensue,  i.e.  pursue.  St.  Paul  uses  the 
latter  word,  which  is  what  ensue  means.  Pursue,  follow  after 
peace  ;  run  after  it  as  something  which  is  running  away  from  you. 
In  company  occasions  arise  of  losing  it,  but  do  not  let  it  go ;  run 
after  it  till  you  find  it,  and  then  hold  it  fast. 

Of  course,  dear ,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  spotting  the  weak 

place ;  you  say,  and  rightly,  that  there  must  be  something  very 
wrong  when  you  get  upset  in  any  strain.  What  is  this  wrong  ?  It 
is  very  simple  and  plain — that  you  are  too  intent  on  doing  what 
your  conscience  tells  you  you  have  to  do  as  to  rule,  etc.,  and 


BEARING  MORE   THAN  DOING.  1 43 

forget  to  bear.  Yet  where  you  fail  in  doing  may  be  nothing  ;  you 
may  be  disabled,  may  be  hindered  by  exhaustion  from  fulfilling 
your  rule.  God  may  in  His  providence  take  away  from  you  the 
power  of  doings  but  He  never  takes  from  you  the  power  of  bearing. 
And  there  is  where  you  fail.  The  secret  of  your  failure  lies  in  a 
small  compass  :  you  do  not  make  the  most  of  your  infirmities.  In 
time  of  strain  you  struggle  instead  of  bearing  and  saying,  "  It  is 
better  forme."  Your  impulse  is  to  look  out  for  human  sympathy. 
When  He  sends  a  strain  it  is  part  of  His  will,  and  so  His  disci- 
pline for  you ;  but  you  do  not  utilize  your  sufferings,  and  so  you 
lose  profit ;  you  are  bent  on  self  rather  than  on  His  will ;  you 
want  to  be  free  from  trouble  instead  of  accepting  it.  I  do  not 
know  whether  it  would  have  been  possible  at ,  but  your  per- 
fection would  have  been  to  have  said  nothing,  and  laid  it  before 
God.  That  lies  at  the  bottom  of  almost  all  amiss  in  your  spiritual 
life,  an  absorbing  interest  in  self,  and  that  you  may  be  an  object 
of  interest  to  others.  Also,  there  is  an  absence  of  humility,  there  is 
pride — for  humility  and  patience  are  sisters.  If  you  were  really 
patient  you  had  rather  bear  them  that  others  should  be  troubled. 

Take  a  note  of  this  : — that  what  you  have  to  watch  against  is 
giving  way  to  impulse  in  thought,  word,  and  deed.  Watch  against 
acting,  speaking,  or  thinking,  or  writing  on  the  impulse  of  the 
moment,  without  weighing  consequences  both  to  yourself  and  to 
others. 

Next  as  to  your  rule ;  be  more  taken  up  with  the  duty  of 
bearing  than  of  doing.  God  calls  you  rather  to  the  passive  than 
to  the  active  in  the  spiritual  life ;  perhaps  because  He  sees  it  is 
harder  to  you  to  bear  well  than  to  do  well,  and  so  His  vocation  for 
you  is  to  bear  rather  than  to  do.  You  have  more  to  do  in  bearing 
than  in  any  other  form  of  obedience  to  His  will. 

Take  as  a  general  law  to  strive  for  gladness,  and  joy,  and 
brightness  in  fulfilling  your  part.  Put  down  gloom  and  despair  ; 
be  more  glad  at  contrete??ifts  than  at  success,  because  better  for 
you. 


144  ANGUISH  AT  DEATH. 

It  is  a  strange  mystery  (the  depths  of  which  we  shall  never 
know  till  the  manifestation  of  all  things),  that  many,  to  whom  we 
might  probably  with  confidence  impute  an  almost  certainty  of 
calm  and  reposeful  faith  and  hope  and  love,  in  the  midst  of  the 
final  struggle  which  waits  upon  the  passing  soul,  are  then  beset 
with  horrible  fears  and  doubts  which  often  express  themselves  in 
heartrending  cries  of  distress,  amounting  sometimes  to  despair. 
These  phenomena  are  no  measure,  happily,  of  the  soul's  accept- 
ance with  Him,  who  knows  its  every  pulse,  with  a  certainty  which 
cannot  err.  Physical  disease  will  often  account  for  much,  a 
nervous  temperament  for  more ;  but,  after  all,  there  is  no  account 
to  be  given  of  it,  except  the  permission  of  God,  who  is  often 
pleased  in  this  way  to  bring  those  whom  He  most  loves  and 
draws  closest  to  Himself  into  real  contact  with  the  full  mystery  of 
suffering,  in  order  for  their  more  perfect  entrance  into  joy.  "As 
My  Father  hath  loved  Me,  so  have  I  loved  you,"  is  the  measure 
of  God's  love  to  the  elect  soul.  Well,  we  know  that  the  Father's 
love  for  Jesus  was  through  such  suffering,  in  the  foretaste  of  death, 
as  found  expression  in  "  strong  crying  and  tears,"  and  that  Jesus 
was  "heard  in  that  He  feared." 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

VISIT   TO   THE   EAST. 

1S53-1S55. 

'  Here  lurks  no  treason,  here  no  envy  swells, 
Here  grow  no  damned  grudges  ;  here  are  no  storms, 
No  noise,  but  Silence  and  Eternal  Sleep." 

The  winter  of  1853-4  was  happily  spent  at  Clifton,  but  in 
the  early  spring  of  1854  Mr.  Skinner  had  a  dangerous 
attack  of  pleurisy  which  deprived  him  of  the  little  strength 
he  had  gained.  His  kind  friend  at  St.  Paul's  writes  to  him 
at  this  time  : 

36,  Wilton  Crescent,  April  6,  1854. 

My  dear  Skinner, 

From  excessive  press  of  business  at  this  critical  time,  I 
have  delayed  answering  your  very  touching  letter  longer  than  I 
could  have  wished;  and  now  my  answer  must,  of  necessity,  be 
brief;  much  briefer  than  I  desire  in  writing  to  you,  my  dear 
friend,  for  I  should  like  to  have  a  long  conversation  with  you  after 
so  long  an  intermission  of  communication  between  us. 

It  is  unspeakably  distressing  to  me  to  be  obliged  to  say  that 
for  your  own  health,  perhaps  I  ought  to  say  your  life's  sake,  I  , 
cannot  consent  to  your  doing  a?iy  duty  whatever  at  St.  Barnabas' 
at  present.  My  authority  for  speaking  so  positively  is  contained 
in  the  enclosed  note  from  Dr.  Chapman,  which  I  will  ask  you  to 
return  to  me  when  you  have  perused  it.  .  .  . 

L 


I46  FAILURE   OF  HEALTH. 

I  would  fervently  pray  to  be  enabled  to  see  God's  hand  in 
reference  to  your  condition,  and  to  follow  His  guidance. 

If  we  both  are  alike  influenced  by  a  simple-hearted  desire  to 
do  right,  to  do  His  will,  let  us  be  assured,  my  dear  brother,  that 
He  will  provide.  I  cannot  see  my  way  at  present  further  than  to 
say,  "  Come  back  to  your  home  at  St.  Barnabas'  when  you  feel  you 
can  do  so  with  safety  and  convenience."  For  the  rest,  let  us  wait 
for  God's  good  providence  to  lead  us,  for  indeed  it  is  an  occasion 
for  putting  to  the  test  our  Blessed  Saviour's  words,  "Sufficient 
unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof." 

Be  assured  that,  under  any  circumstances,  I  shall  not  cease  to 
feel  the  warmest  affection  towards  you,  and  to  make  any  efforts  in 
my  power  to  lighten  your  cross.  Give  my  kindest  regards  to  dear 
Mrs.  Skinner,  and  believe  me,  my  dear  Skinner, 

Your  faithful  and  affectionate  brother  in  the  Lord, 

Robert  Liddell. 

Rev.  James  Skinner. 

It  was  ever  necessary,  through  life,  to  hold  him  back  by 
positive  injunctions,  for  the  moment  he  recovered  from  the 
severity  of  illness,  his  desire  to  be  at  work  persuaded  him 
that  he  was  capable  of  it.  He  returned  to  St.  Barnabas' 
in  the  middle  of  April,  for  Easter,  but  was  unable  even  to 
go  into  church  for  a  month  after  he  reached  home,  and 
then  only  in  an  invalid  chair  to  receive  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment. Yet  he  rallied  in  a  measure,  mostly  through  force 
of  will,  preaching  on  St.  Barnabas'  Day,  the  first  time  for  a 
year,  and  taking  a  fair  share  of  work  during  the  summer. 
But  at  times  he  was  quite  unfit  for  it,  his  feeble  condition 
causing  the  gravest  anxiety  to  his  friends,  and  as  autumn 
advanced  his  doctors  pronounced  an  entire  rest  from  work 
and  change  of  climate  for  the  winter  necessary  for  the  pre- 
servation of  his  life.  It  was  arranged  that  he  should  make  a 
tour  in  the  East,  the  climate  of  Egypt  and  the  Desert  being 


VOYAGE    TO  ALEXANDRIA.  1 47 

recommended  ;  and  Mr.  Liddell,  kind  as  ever,  consented  to 
this  second  long  absence  on  the  part  of  his  senior  curate, 
in  the  hope  of  eventually  retaining  him  at  St.  Barnabas'. 

On  October  20  he  sailed  from  Southampton  to  Alexan- 
dria, circumstances  obliging  him  to  undergo  the  trial  of 
separation  from  his  wife,  who  remained  in  charge  of  the 
children  and  household  at  St.  Barnabas'.  He  encountered 
an  awful  storm  in  the  Mediterranean,  the  same  which 
during  the  Crimean  War  wrought  havoc  among  the  ships 
in  the  Black  Sea. 

After  describing  in  a  letter  from  Malta  a  terrible 
hurricane  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  he  writes  from  Alexandria, 
November  4,  1854  : 

And  now  begins,  or  rather  continues,  the  thread  of  my  misery, 
spun  out  shortly  but  strongly  in  that  scrap  from  Malta.  All  the 
horrors  of  the  voyage,  begun  on  the  second  day  after  entering 
the  Mediterranean,  were  now  repeated  with  compound  interest. 
The  ship  rolled  and  tossed,  and  tossed  and  rolled,  and  creaked 
and  shook,  as  if  she  would  go  to  pieces  every  instant.  The 
hurricane  continued  on  and  on,  and  we  continued  on  our  course, 
struggling  against  it ;  as  if,  though  other  ships  put  back,  there 
were  nothing  for  us  to  fear.  It  was  the  very  "  Euroclydon  "  which 
shipwrecked  St.  Paul ;  and  as  we  passed  under  the  lee  of  Crete, 
and  drove  our  heads  against  the  blast  which  pierced  the  way 
where  "two  seas  meet,"  I  thought  of  the  blessed  apostle,  and  of 
the  Providence  which  watched  over  him,  and  I  prayed  that 
though  haply  there  might  be  none  among  us  such  as  he,  for  whose 
sake  all  the  other  lives  were  given,  yet  the  same  protecting  Spirit 
might  not  fail  us  in  our  need.  I  spent  all  my  time,  night  and  day, 
in  prayer.  I  was  too  faint  to  speak,  and  too  ill  to  unclose  my 
eyes ;  but  fixed  my  inner  eye  steadfastly  upon  our  only  and  alone 
Captain  and  Saviour,  and  said  thousands  of  times,  "  O  Saviour  of 
the  world,  who  by  Thy  cross  and  precious  blood  has  redeemed  us, 


143  STORM  AT  SEA. 

save  us  and  help  us,  we  humbly  beseech  Thee,  O  Lord  ! "  It  was 
an  awful  time.  First,  we  lost  our  jibboom  and  top-gallant  halliards  ; 
then  our  whole  figure-head  and  all  the  forepart  of  the  exterior  ship 
was  wrenched  off.  Then  the  captain  was  thrown  off  the  forecastle 
and  his  arm  dislocated.  Then  about  midnight,  when  the  ship  was 
rolling  fearfully,  and  everything  on  every  side  was  falling  to  pieces, 
with  deafening  noise  there  came  a  tremendous  sea,  washing  clean 
over  the  ship  and  filling  almost  every  cabin  with  water,  and  an 
awful  yell  of  agony — "  murder."  I  jumped  up  with  all  the  fresh 
life  and  energy  which  imminent  danger  lends  for  the  moment,  to 
ascertain  what  had  befallen  us.  A  poor  fellow,  a  seaman,  had 
been  knocked  down  by  the  sea,  and  both  his  legs  fearfully 
shattered  to  pieces.  Then  the  horses  on  board,  one  after  another, 
knocked  to  bits,  died,  and  were  thrown  overboard.  And  so  we 
went  on  hardly  existing — the  cabin  full  of  water ;  my  very  bed 
drenched — till  on  the  eighth  day  God  had  pity,  and  stayed  the 
stormy  sea,  and  "delivered  us  out  of  our  distress;"  "for  He 
maketh  the  storm  to  cease,  so  that  the  waves  thereof  are  still." 

That  wonderful  psalm,  read  in  church  when  I  was  being  tossed 
in  the  Bay  of  Biscay  on  the  22nd,  and  when  you  were  so  anxiously 
thinking  of  me,  has  been  much  in  my  thoughts. 

Cairo,  November  16,  1854. 

...  I  was  very  glad  to  leave  Alexandria,  although  I  had 
a  satisfactory  sojourn  there.  I  completed  all  my  investigations, 
and  finished  off  with  a  visit  to  the  Bishop  and  Metropolitan  of  the 
Coptic  Church.  He  was  very  civil,  and  as  communicative  as 
ignorance  and  habit  combined  ever  allow  these  men  to  be.  He 
answered  all  my  questions,  but  suggested  no  information  himself. 
I  carried  on  my  conversation  through  an  interpreter,  for  he  knew 
no  language  but  his  own.  I  smoked  a  most  delicious  pipe  with 
him,  a  pipe  of  the  finest  Latakia,  and  drank  some  of  the  richest 
coffee  I  ever  tasted ;  and  so  took  leave. 

I  also  visited  all  the  Roman  Missions  in  Alexandria,  and 
entered  into  all  the  minute  details  of  their  extraordinary  work. 
I  was  received  with  the  greatest  kindness,  alike  by  the  Brothers 


CAIRO.  I49 

and  the  Sisters  of  the  Orders  who  are  there  ;  and  never  was  more 
pleased  with  anything,  or  more  thankful  that  God  had  His  instru- 
ments for  every  part  of  His  work  for  our  souls,  and  was  using 
them,  each  according  to  its  separate  adaptation,  to  the  end.  The 
Romanists  are  apparently  the  only  body  of  Christians  in  Egypt 
doing  anything :  the  poor  Copts,  besides  being  as  deeply  stained 
with  the  Monophysite  heresy  as  they  were  when  first  it  was  in- 
vented, are  in  a  state  of  absolute  degradation  and  powerlessness  ; 
the  Catholics  are  inert,  and  lethargic,  and  asleep ;  and  we  English 
are  worse  than  dead.  There  is  a  fitful,  irregular,  feverish  stirring 
among  the  American  sects,  who  are  sending  missionaries ;  but 
they  vapour  and  smoke,  and  then  their  work  comes  to  naught. 

Cairo,  November  29,  1854. 

.  .  .  To-day  I  have  been  a  long  ride  to  Rhoda  Island. 
Nothing  can  give  you  an  idea  of  the  surpassing  beauty  of  the 
day,  or  of  the  scenery !  The  setting  sun  on  the  vast  pyramids 
of  Ghezeh,  behind  the  cluster  of  lofty  and  graceful  palms  which 
skirt  the  bank  of  the  royal  river,  was  a  sight  never  to  be  forgotten. 
This  Rhoda  is  celebrated  for  a  very  ancient  Nilometer — an  instru- 
ment for  measuring  the  height  of  the  inundations,  which  has  been 
in  use  for  more  than  two  thousand  years.  It  is  the  place  preserved 
by  tradition  as  that  wherein  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  discovered 
the  infant  Moses.   .  .  . 

I  am  going  to-morrow  to  visit  the  traditionary  chamber  where 
dwelt  the  Holy  Family  when  they  "  came  down  into  Egypt." 
It  is  some  four  miles  off;  and  also,  in  another  direction,  the 
sycamore  tree,  under  which  they  rested  with  the  Holy  Child  on 
their  weary  way.  Every  step  in  this  country  is  full  of  interest ; 
for  either  one  is  treading  the  ground  whereon  saints  and  God's 
servants  of  old  have  walked,  or  gazing  upon  the  same  objects  as 
the  most  renowned  beings  and  the  most  gifted  philosophers  of 
heathendom  were  familiar  with.  .  .  . 

I  paid  a  visit  of  three  hours  the  day  before  yesterday  to  the 
Coptic  Patriarch,  and  had  a  long  and  intensely  interesting  dis- 
cussion.    He  is  to  give  me  letters  commendatory  to  the  Bishops 


150  UP  THE  NILE. 

of  Upper  Egypt.  On  Sunday  I  visited  the  Greek  church  and 
convent ;  also  the  Syrian  and  Franciscan  (Latin).  I  am  going  to 
visit  the  Greek  Patriarch,  and  the  Armenian  also.  .  .  . 

This  is  a  wonderful  time  among  the  Mahomedans.  The 
pilgrims  have  just  come  in  from  Mecca,  and  the  religious  cere- 
monies consequent  on  that  event  keep  the  whole  city  in  an  uproar 
from  morning  to  night.  It  gives  me  an  impression  of  depth  in 
degradation,  to  which  I  had  no  conception  human  nature,  in 
any  part  of  God's  earth,  had  ever  fallen. 

Eshneh,  Upper  Nile,  December,  1854. 

Thank  God,  I  am  excellently  well !  I  hardly  ever  felt  better 
in  my  life,  and  this  magnificent  climate  just  suits  me  :  it  has 
already  made  a  new  man  of  me,  though  I  am  but  one  quarter  of 
my  time  in  it.  I  have  gained  greatly  in  strength  and  in  flesh,  and 
am,  in  fact,  with  my  beard  and  moustache,  more  like  a  great 
stalwart  heavy  dragoon,  than  the  poor  half-starved-looking  parson 
you  used  to  know. 

March  5,  1855. 

Our  last  day  in  Cairo  was  a  busy  one.  Breakfast  was  got 
over  before  eight,  and  by  nine  we  were  waiting  by  appointment 
for  his  Holiness  the  Orthodox  Patriarch  in  his  episcopal  palace. 
The  Rev.  William  W.  Ewbank  and  the  Rev.  G.  P.  Badger  were 
with  me.  The  former  is  Incumbent  of  St.  George's,  Everton,  near 
Liverpool — an  able  and  zealous  worker  in  his  own  sphere;  a 
large-hearted  and  affectionate  soul  without  a  spark  of  party  spirit. 
We  are  wide  of  each  other  on  a  great  many  theological  subjects 
of  the  deepest  interest ;  but  where  love  is,  differences  earnestly 
and  honestly  held  do  but  gender  mutual  respect. 

After  waiting  an  hour,  the  Patriarch's  arrival  was  announced. 
We  descended  from  the  secretary's  room  to  meet  him,  and  found 
him  waiting  in  the  court  below.  He  was  very  courteous  and 
civil,  and  showed  the  way  through  a  suite  of  very  comfortable 
apartments  to  a  handsome  receiving-room  furnished  with  luxurious 
divans,  where  the  never-failing  chibouque  with  sweetmeats  and 
coffee  were  served.     The  interview  was  summed  up  by  a  request 


START  FOR  JERUSALEM.  1 5  I 

for  letters  introductory  to  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  which  were 
granted  at  once,  and  we  took  our  leave. 

Then,  a  visit  to  the  Consulate,  and  the  usual  preliminary 
arrangements  of  passport  vise,  etc.,  and  we  reached  our  hotel  and 
relapsed  into  the  throes  of  packing.  We  were  not  fairly  off  till 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  ;  then,  drawn  up  before  the  Oriental 
Hotel,  an  imposing  cavalcade — eleven  camels  with  as  many 
Arabs,  tents,  water-casks,  provision  crates,  and  packages  without 
end — -we  were  the  observed  of  all  our  friends,  who  gathered  in 
force  to  see  us  start  and  bid  us  a  cordial  adieu. 

And  now  the  first  difficulty  was  over :  the  three  formidable 
plunges  of  the  rising  camel — each  of  which  seems  to  promise  in- 
evitable dislocation  and  a  public  discomfiture — were  accomplished, 
and  we  were  moving  majestically  along  the  Usbequieh  as  if  we 
had  been  born  children  of  the  desert,  and  the  heaving  motion  of 
this  "  desert  ship  "  were  second  nature. 

I  can  tell  you,  however,  it  is  far  otherwise.  I  never  felt  more 
uncomfortable  or  less  at  home  in  my  life.  The  pitch  with 
which  the  brute  hauls  up  his  off-legs  after  he  has  spread  out  his 
near  ones,  is  exactly  like  the  rolling  of  a  ship  in  a  ground  swell. 
Mrs.  Ewbank  is  on  a  donkey,  and  a  famous  donkey  it  will  be  if  it 
contrives  to  survive  this  long  desert  journey  and  reach  the  Promised 
Land. 

March  6. 
By  noon  we  reached  a  shady  rock  and  dismounted  to  refresh 
ourselves  and  rest.  No  one  but  soon  learns  in  this  land  what  that 
meaneth — "  The  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  thirsty  land."  But 
the  slowness  of  our  progress  admitted  of  little  indulgence  in 
that  way.  The  point  is  first  to  make  out  the  day,  and  then  to 
rest.  Of  all  intermediate  stoppages  camels  and  Arabs  and  ser- 
vants are  alike  impatient.  Indeed,  it  is  a  weary  work  at  best ; 
every  bone  aches,  every  nerve  is  on  the  stretch.  Ewbank  bears  it 
more  bravely  than  I.  There  he  sits  upon  his  camel  as  airily  and 
lightly  as  if  bone-breaking  were  nothing  •  while  I  am  a  perfect 
wonder  to  behold,  with  a  series  of  endless  folds  of  muslin  girded 


152  THE  DESERT. 

round  my  body  for  support — swathed  like  a  mummy.  I  am  certain 
he  will  not  endure  to  the  end  as  well  as  I ;  for  there  is  hardly 
anything  so  important  against  the  motive  evil  of  camel-riding  as 
this  precaution  of  support. 

March  7. 

The  wind  has  changed  its  quarter,  and  though  the  sun  is 
stronger  the  breeze  is  fresher,  and  we  set  out  in  good  heart  and 
spirits. 

Presently  we  entered  Wady  Digheleh — a  narrow  defile  between 
the  broken  rocks,  full  of  shrubs  and  thistles  and  bright  little 
flowers  which  seem  to  "  waste  their  sweetness  on  the  desert  air;" 
and  yet  "  waste "  is  not  the  word,  for  the  camels  find  in  them 
many  a  cherished  morsel.  It  is,  however,  a  great  addition  to  the 
tedium  of  the  way,  that  no  flower  or  shrub  is  allowed  to  escape 
us;  the  camels  are  diligently  led  up  to  each  and  invited  to 
regale  themselves. 

March  8. 

We  started  this  morning  at  eight,  having  breakfasted,  as  before, 
in  the  open  air.  Mutton  chops,  poached  eggs,  and  rolls  with 
butter,  and  preserved  limes  and  oranges.  Of  course  we  carry 
with  us  our  own  commissariat ;  and  unhappy  cocks  and  hens,  with 
a  supply  of  turkeys  for  Sundays,  are  at  once  our  compagno?is  dc 
voyage,  and  the  victims  on  whom  we  prey. 

To-day  we  traversed  a  magnificent  and  extensive  plain.  Here 
we  fancied  the  "  harnessed  "  ranks  of  the  hosts  of  Israel  toiling  on 
in  the  burning  sun,  commanded  by  the  keen  eye  of  their  inspired 
leader,  undimmed  by  the  long  use  of  eighty  years ;  and  we  tried  to 
picture  to  ourselves  the  magnificence  which  a  whole  nation  slowly 
marching  down  this  valley  must  needs  have  added  to  the  view. 
The  tread  of  many  feet — the  sound  of  many  waters — and  the 
banners  of  the  tribes  of  the  house  of  God  following  the  awful 
cloud  in  front — never  lost  to  sight — yet  never  seen  by  all  at  once — 
winding  round  and  round — endless  from  the  multitude  of  souls — 
endless  from  the  turnings  of  the  valley — and  the  bones  of  Joseph 
swelling  out  the  mighty  procession  into  the  magnificent  ceremonial 


ILLNESS  OF  MR.  EWBANK.  153 

of  an  Eastern  funeral.     Flowers  of  every  hue,  and  sweet  herbs  of 
varied  fragrance,  lent  their  enchantment  to  the  picture. 

March  12. 
Ewbank  had  an  unquiet  night,  and  is  not  feeling  very  well ; 
but  whether  from  indifferent  water,  or  the  camel  motion,  or  both, 
his  feelings  are  the  common  lot  of  desert  travellers  ;  few  make  so 
light  of  them  as  he. 

March  17. 
To-day  is  an  unexpected  day  of  rest.  Poor  Ewbank  was 
with  difficulty  persuaded  to  make  it  so ;  he  was  so  unwilling  to  be 
a  clog  to  our  progress.  "  Do  not  have  the  baggage-caravan  sent 
off  this  morning,  till  you  hear  further,"  was  Mrs.  Ewbank's  early 
message  to  me ;  and  I  had  no  need  to  be  assured  of  the  absolute 
necessity  of  a  pause.  It  is  a  hard  trial  to  be  laid  up  in  this 
wilderness  of  Sin — far  from  medical  aid  and  the  common  comforts 
of  home. 

March  18. 

Another  day  of  rest.  Poor  Ewbank  goes  on  very  badly,  and 
his  wife  having  done  her  utmost  came  to  me.  Alas,  poor  souls  ! 
what  can  they  do  ?  I  am  the  sole  being  in  this  wide  wilderness 
to  whom  they  can  look,  under  God,  for  help  and  sympathy ;  and 
I  must  not  shrink  from  using  such  remedies  as  I  have.  I  took  my 
globules  and  tinctures,  and  administered  them,  after  all  the  study 
I  could  apply,  according  to  Hering's  book ;  but  I  have  far  more 
confidence  in  the  prayer  which  I  most  earnestly  offered  up  to 
God  for  my  poor  friend. 

On  the  north  border  of  the  valley,  as  we  rest  here,  rises  Gebel 
Nazareen,  and  I  aspired  to  stand  upon  his  heights,  and  see  the 
sunset  over  Serbal.  It  was  a  much  more  difficult  and  hazardous 
undertaking  than  I  supposed.  Once  on  the  summit,  the  reward 
is  full.  There  to  the  east,  over  a  thousand  subject  pyramids,  rise 
high  the  massive  towers  of  "  the  Mount  of  God ; "  and  ever  as 
the  sun  declines  in  the  opposite  horizon,  the  shadows  flit  here 
and  there,  and  rise   and  fall.      All  the  brightest   and  deepest 


154  MOUNT  SERB  A  L. 

hues  gather  in  upon  his  breast,  and  gleaming  with  a  vast  un- 
earthly light,  half  dazzle  one  with  beauty,  half  awe  with  fear. 
Then  it  flashes  across  my  mind  that  on  those  very  heights  "they 
saw  the  God  of  Israel,  and  there  was  under  His  feet,  as  it  were,  a 
paved  work  of  sapphire  stone,  and  as  it  were  the  body  of  heaven 
in  His  clearness."  I  sat  down  and  gazed  till  all  was  dark  once 
more  upon  his  lofty  brow. 

March  19,  20,  21. 

Here  we  are  still.  Three  days  more  have  passed,  and  we 
may  not  yet  so  much  as  think  of  striking  our  tents  and  moving 
on.  Poor  Ewbank  goes  on  as  badly  as  possible,  and  we  are 
utterly  alone  in  this  desert,  with  no  human  aid  at  hand.  Fever 
keeps  his  pulse  up  to  a  persevering  range  of  102  to  120,  all  the 
most  alarming  symptoms  continue — what  will  be  the  issue  God 
only  knows.  I  have  great  faith  in  this  most  delicious  and  salutary 
air ;  indeed,  but  for  the  sorrow  which  causes  it,  I  could  not  but 
accept  this  rest  for  myself  as  one  of  the  best  things  that  could 
have  happened;  for  day  succeeds  day  in  the  same  unbroken, 
changeless  line  of  brilliant  skies  and  soft  invigorating  breezes,  and 
the  life  which  one  leads,  houseless,  beneath  this  firmament  of 
gorgeous  blue,  has  a  charm  of  health  about  it  which  they  who 
only  know  the  March  winds  of  England  cannot  understand ;  and 
so,  if  only  poor  dear  Ewbank  were  round  the  corner,  I  should 
hope  the  very  best  for  him  from  the  mere  climate.  But  when 
this  round  shall  be  made,  or,  if  made,  when  his  worn  and  ex- 
hausted frame  shall  be  able  to  endure  our  only  instrument  of 
locomotion — the  slow,  tedious,  rolling,  bone-breaking  camel — is 
more  than  I  can  say. 

March  22,  23,  24. 

Three  days  more  in  this  vale  of  sorrow — for  so,  indeed,  it  is 
to  us.  Poor  Ewbank  is  still  as  ill  as  he  can  be,  and  I  fear  he  is 
growing  weaker  daily,  and  the  power  of  rallying  gradually  lessens. 
He  is  even  cheerful  in  the  midst  of  suffering,  and  does  not 
apprehend  danger ;  he  buoys  himself  up  with  hope ;  but  I  have 
my  own  misgivings,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  he  himself 


LETTER   TO   THE  ARCHIMANDRITE.  1 55 

has  more  doubts  than  he  chooses  to  express — his  hopefulness  is 
for  the  sake  of  others.  He  lives  upon  the  hope  of  reaching  the 
convent.  "  My  chief  earthly  hope  now,"  he  says,  "  is  that  I  may 
get  to  the  convent ; "  and  as  we  are  sending  off  Hussein  to  get 
from  the  worthy  monks  a  few  necessaries  which  our  prolonged 
delay  has  exhausted,  I  think  I  may  as  well  suggest  the  possibility 
of  their  sending  us  a  litter.  I  have  no  hope  of  being  able  to  use 
it,  for  his  feebleness  and  exhaustion  forbid  the  very  thought  of 
motion.  But  I  wrote  as  follows,  only  the  language  which  I  used 
was  Italian — I  was  afraid  of  venturing  my  Greek  : — • 

"Wadi  Firau,  March  24,  1855. 
"  To  the  Most  Rev.  the  Archimandrite  of  the  Convent  of 

Mount  Sinai. 

"Most  reverend  Father, 

"  I  take  the  liberty  of  apprising  you  of  our  present  un- 
fortunate situation,  because  I  am  well  assured  that,  of  your 
Christian  charity,  you  will  do  all  you  can  for  our  assistance. 

"  We  are  three  English  travellers  journeying  from  Cairo,  by  the 
desert  of  Sinai,  to  Jerusalem.  One  of  us  is  a  lady,  and  the  two 
others  are  priests  of  the  English  Church,  travelling  for  the  benefit 
of  broken  health. 

"  The  lady  is  the  wife  of  one  of  us,  who,  most  unfortunately,  has 
been  seized  in  this  valley  with  grievous  sickness ;  and  not  only 
has  our  progress  been  hindered  here  for  a  whole  week,  but  the 
natural  strength  of  our  traveller  is  so  reduced,  that  when  we  shall 
be  able  to  proceed  it  is  impossible  to  say. 

"  In  this  sad  misfortune,  we  beseech  you,  most  reverend  father, 
to  send  us,  according  to  your  ability,  whatever  is  wanting  to  our 
needs.  Especially,  we  pray  for  twenty  loaves  of  bread;  and  if 
there  be  anything  else  suitable  for  a  sick  person  which  you  can 
send  us  in  this  emergency,  we  shall  be  for  ever  grateful. 

"  Finally,  most  reverend  father,  we  shall  greatly  rejoice  if  you 
can  suggest  any  mode  of  transport  less  difficult  and  uneasy  for  an 
invalid  than  the  restless  camel.  If  any  sort  of  carriage  could  be 
fitted  up  of  wood,  upon  which  the  bed  of  our  sufferer  might  rest, 


156  DYING  IN  THE  DESERT. 

and  so,  by  soft  and  slow  degrees,  he  could  be  brought  to  your 
hospitable  gate,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  assure  you  of  our  ever- 
lasting obligation. 

"  I  am  always,  with  the  highest  consideration, 

"  Your  most  humble  and  obliged  servant  in  Christ, 

"  James  Skinner." 

My  poor  friend  is  glad  to  hear  what  has  been  done ;  but  I 
observe  a  greater  amount  of  fever,  and  an  unconsciousness  of 
time  which  I  have  not  noticed  before.  In  the  afternoon,  towards 
four  o'clock,  I  always  have  a  little  "  service  "  with  him.  I  say  a 
short  psalm,  and  read  a  few  verses  from  Holy  Scripture ;  after 
which  I  pray  for  Him,  and  then,  rising  from  my  knees,  I  bless 
him  with  "the  laying  on  of  hands,"  committing  him  to  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  with  Whom,  be  the  end  life  or  death,  he  is 
safe.  He  longs  for  this  little  "  service  "  as  the  event  of  the  day. 
To-day  he  asked,  "  Is  it  four  o'clock  yet  ?  "  when  as  yet  it  was 
hardly  one.  It  is  very  touching  to  see  his  worn  features  lit  up 
with  the  spirit  of  devotion,  and  his  poor  head  raised  from  its  un- 
easy pillow  to  receive  the  blessing. 

March  25,  26. 

All  our  waiting  is  over  !  Our  prayers  are  answered  other- 
wise than  we  had  deemed — still  they  are  answered  for  good  as 
God  knows  best.  Our  dear  friend  has  passed  to  another  "  Jeru- 
salem "  than  that  our  toilsome  pilgrimage  along  this  valley  had  in 
v*iew. 

Saturday  night  was  a  time  of  much  uneasiness  and  suffering ; 
and  early  yesterday  morning  the  conviction  seized  Mrs.  Ewbank 
that  her  beloved  husband  could  not  struggle  through.  She  con- 
sulted me,  and  I  could  not  say  that  I  differed  from  her.  It  was 
not  a  difficult  task  to  express  our  convictions  to  him ;  secretly,  I 
believe,  he  had  shared  them  for  some  time  ;  and  he  had  that  sense 
of  death  always  upon  him,  which  made  him  always  ready  to  die. 
And  yet  he  was  so  genuine  and  true  to  nature,  that  he  could  pretend 
to  nothing  which  was  not  thoroughly  real.     His  own  wish  would 


MR.   EWBANICS  DEATH.  I  57 

have  been  to  live  on ;  but  he  was  glad  to  do  the  will  of  God ; 
and  so  he  expressed  himself  to  me,  and  made  my  office  easy, 
when  I  had  to  speak  of  setting  his  earthly  things  in  order. 

After  a  time  I  had  my  "service"  with  him;  and  then  he 
asked  me  to  read  some  poetry  to  him.  He  asked  for  the 
"  Christian  Year,"  and  I  repeated  the  hymn  for  the  day — 

"  The  Historic  Muse,  from  age  to  age, 
Through  many  a  waste  heart-sickening  page 

Hath  traced  the  works  of  man  ; 
But  a  celestial  call  to-day- 
Stays  her,  like  Moses,  on  her  way, 
The  works  of  God  to  scan." 

Then  came  the  night — the  trying  night ;  it  was  the  last !  And 
now  the  struggle  is  over,  and  he  is  where  mortal  sorrow  is 
unknown.  Oh,  most  wonderful  dispensation  of  the  providence 
of  God  !  Journeying  through  Europe,  in  weak  but  renovated 
health,  he  had  reached  Egypt  in  December,  with  every  assurance 
that  all  was  prospering  with  the  object  for  which  he  had  quitted 
home.  In  Alexandria,  though  prostrated  by  a  fit  of  his  accus- 
tomed asthma,  he  soon  rallied  again,  and  proceeding  up  the  Nile, 
by  steamer,  as  far  as  Assouan,  had  returned  to  Cairo,  with  every 
sign  of  a  fixed  and  steady  improvement  upon  him.  I  was  seeking 
a  companion  for  the  desert  by  Sinai  and  Nachl — so  was  he  ;  and 
we  joined  our  arrangements  together,  as  far  as  Jerusalem.  Never 
did  a  party  start  for  this  long,  somewhat  fatiguing,  but  usually 
invigorating  tour  in  better  condition  and  spirits  than  we.  If  any 
one  of  us  excelled  the  other  in  strength,  it  seemed  certainly  to  be 
he  who  is  now  in  the  midst  of  us  a  corpse.  And  his  broken- 
hearted widow  sits  by  my  side  ;  and  with  her  and  God  I  am  alone 
in  this  valley  of  desolation. 

This  morning  I  came  to  him  at  one ;  he  was  then  struggling 
for  life.  The  residue  of  his  strength  amazed  me ;  it  seemed  as  if 
there  might  be  hours  of  struggling  before  him.  At  half-past  two  I 
came  again,  and  never  left  him  more.  The  time  was  spent  in 
prayer.  At  five  minutes  past  five  he  whispered  to  me,  "Now  it's 
coming ! "  then,  the  last  heave  of  waning  life — and  he  was  gone. 


158  THE    TOMB  IN  A   ROCK. 

I  closed  his  eyes  in  peace ;  and  of  all  his  bright  and  sweet  and 
winning  example,  there  was  an  end. 

The  burning  mid-day  suns  of  Arabia  leave  no  choice  of  hours 
between  the  two  final  steps  in  the  history  of  man.  It  was  a  horrid 
thing  to  bury  him,  all  alone  and  unshaded,  in  the  waste  "  howling 
wilderness,"  but  before  the  scorching  sun  was  over  the  horizon, 
I  set  out  in  search  of  a  burial-place  for  his  remains. 

Alas  !  for  an  hour  I  wandered  up  and  down,  and  no  safe  place 
appeared.  At  length  Toolisman,  our  most  ancient  Arab,  the 
driver  of  his  camel  (as  if  that  closer  personal  connection  had 
entitled  him  to  be  "  eyes  to  us  "  in  this  perplexing  darkness),  sug- 
gested a  secret  cave  at  some  distance  to  the  south.  "  It  was,"  he 
said,  "a  hiding-place  for  corn  and  other  provisions,  but  it  has 
long  since  been  disused  in  these  peaceful  days ;  it  is  perfectly 
safe,  and  none  will  disturb  him  there."  So  off  we  hurried,  without 
loss  of  time,  following  Toolisman ;  and  there,  midway  in  a  moun- 
tain, where  we  hope  no  beast  of  the  wilderness  can  reach,  or 
storm  dislodge,  his  bones,  I  fixed  to  have  him  laid. 

A  long  and  weary  morning,  hot  and  sultry,  is  passing  now. 
The  feverish  anxiety  of  the  past  night  is  pressing  heavily  on  us 
both,  and  we  are  waiting,  solemnly  and  thoughtfully,  for  the 
evening  cool.  Then  the  mournful  cavalcade  must  go  forth  ;  and 
all  uncoffined  we  shall  commit  to  the  rock,  with  blessed  words,  all 
that  remains  of  as  sweet  and  gentle  a  servant  of  God  as  ever  fell 
to  my  lot  to  see. 

March  27. 

All  unwillingly  the  hard-natured  Arabs  lent  an  assistance 
I  could  have  too  gladly  spared,  had  there  been  any  more  feeling- 
hearts  or  readier  hands  at  my  command.  Their  sheikh  away  on 
his  mission  to  the  convent,  the  accustomed  voice  of  command 
was  wanting,  and,  moreover,  there  was  the  difficulty  of  overcoming 
a  religious  scruple. 

The  body  was  soon  prepared — for  it  is  due  to  Arminius,  our 
Coptic  dragoman,  to  say  that  no  efforts  of  his  were  wanting  to 
fulfil  my  wishes — and  then,  all  swathed  in  his  sheet,  and  laid  upon 


BURIAL.  159 

the  iron  bedstead,  and  decently  covered  with  the  counterpane,  we 
raised  the  dear  burden  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  Arabs,  and  the 
mournful  procession  left  the  camp.  It  comforts  me  to  think  that, 
though  contrary  to  our  notions  of  reverent  decency  at  home,  a 
coffinless  sepulture  is  true  to  Eastern  usage,  and  to  the  most 
precious  precedents. 

Mrs.  Ewbank  was  able  by  this  time  to  raise  her  head,  and  the 
very  exertion  of  discharging  the  last  earthly  duty  of  a  wife  now 
left  to  her  seemed  a  grateful  relief.  We  followed  the  bier  at 
a  distance,  for  the  desert  is  rough  and  stony,  and  the  Arabs'  step 
was  fleet.     Little  passed  between  us  in  words. 

Then  we  arrived  at  the  cave,  partly  dug  out  of  the  rock,  and 
partly  built  up  with  dark  red  sandstone,  with  an  aperture  just 
large  enough  for  one  man  to  enter. 

The  body  was  laid  close  under  this  aperture.  I  beckoned 
the  Moslem  savages  to  retire  out  of  sight  while  the  broken  heart 
of  the  poor  widow  vented  its  fulness  in  the  last  gaze  upon  what 
remained  of  her  departed  treasure.  Then  we  gently  and  slowly 
unbound  the  body  from  the  bier  and  laid  it  in  the  cave,  with  its 
face  on  the  forward  journey  toward  "Jerusalem."  The  widow, 
our  dragoman,  and  I  stood  by  the  door,  while  I  read  the  service 
of  the  Church. 

One  long  look  more,  as  he  lay  all  peacefully  within  this  "  new 
tomb  hewn  in  the  rock,"  asleep  in  Him  who  so  was  laid  before 
him,  and  then  the  Arabs  built  up  the  aperture  with  great  stones 
and  cement  of  sand  and  water,  and  the  tomb  was  "  sealed  "  till 
the  "  day  of  refreshing  "  dawns. 

I  am  in  an  exhausted  state,  and  must  not  entertain  the  notion 
of  proceeding  onward  through  the  desert — sixteen  sad  days  more — 
to  Jerusalem ;  although  the  poor  widow  would  gladly  accomplish 
what  had  so  absorbed  him  from  the  first.  I  dread  my  own  failing 
by  the  way,  and  I  have  no  security  for  her  holding  out. 

March  28. 

Yesterday  afternoon,  after  all  arrangements  were  made  to 
start  on  the  morrow,  I  heard  a  rumour  of  a  caravan  approaching, 


l6o  RETURN  TO  SUEZ. 

and  soon  Messrs.  Drummond  and  Gott  arrived.  They  were  the 
first  European  faces  I  had  seen  since  I  quitted  Cairo,  and  never 
was  the  sight  of  an  Englishman  so  welcome  to  my  eyes.  A  few 
words  sufficed  for  explaining  our  position,  and  then  all  was  kind- 
ness and  sympathy  at  their  hands. 

This  morning  we  were  off  by  eight  o'clock.  The  heat  of  the 
air  was  stifling,  and  all  was  depressing  as  we  quitted  this  desolate 
valley,  part  of  which  is  the  oasis  of  Sinai.  God  knows  it  has 
been  a  wilderness  to  us  !  Every  step  of  the  road  has  a  familiar 
aspect,  but  all  too  melancholy — bound  up  with  him  who  is  gone 
from  us,  who,  but  three  weeks  ago,  passed  onward  with  us — the 
life  of  our  expectation. 

March  29. 

On  the  move  at  half-past  eight ;  before  two  in  the  afternoon 
we  were  once  more  upon  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea. 

March  31. 

All  yesterday  was  spent  in  hopeless  expectation.  A  burning 
sun  overhead,  and  the  reflected  heat  of  sand  and  sea,  made  our 
tents  all  but  unendurable. 

Another  hour  on  the  hot  sand,  and  many  wistful  and  searching- 
looks  across  and  up  the  gulf  satisfy  us  that  some  mistake  there 
must  be,  and  that  waiting  longer  we  shall  only  waste  our  precious 
time  and  wear  our  slender  strength. 

So  by  noon  we  are  once  more  mounted  and  under  motion, 
toiling  on  at  our  wonted  pace,  over  that  too  familiar  ground,  the 
pain  of  which  we  had  thus  vainly  striven  to  avoid. 

The  mournful  party  at  length  reached  Suez,  and  were 
obliged  by  fatigue  to  remain  there  during  Holy  Week. 

I  never  spent  such  a  Holy  Week  before.  If  it  were  right,  I 
would  pray  that  I  might  never  spend  such  a  one  again.  But  God 
knows  what  is  best  for  each  of  us,  and  we  are  safest  when  we 
submit  patiently  and  thankfully  to  Him.  Our  Easter  Day  was 
spent  on  the  beaten  track  between  Suez  and  Cairo,  and  we  did 
our  best  to  keep  it  holy,  with  the  deep  marks  of  His  visitation 


JAFFA.  l6l 

fresh  upon  our  souls.  One  night  in  Cairo  for  rest,  and  then  at 
Alexandria  I  had  the  comfort  of  committing  my  broken-hearted 
charge  to  tried  friends,  to  return  with  them  to  England,  while  I 
took  my  place  by  the  steamer  for  Jaffa. 

We  had  an  indifferent  passage,  but  were  off  Jaffa  by  three 
o'clock  on  the  second  day  from  Alexandria.  Owing  to  the 
tremendous  surf  which  was  beating  against  the  open  roadstead, 
no  one  would  venture  out  to  take  us  ashore.  We  were  not  able 
to  land  till  the  next  morning,  and  got  ashore  in  the  midst  of  four 
or  five  hundred  pilgrims,  returning  from  the  Holy  City  about 
eight  in  the  morning.  There  are  no  hotels  in  Jaffa,  except  one 
miserable  khan,  kept  by  a  Jew,  a  wretched  place,  though  wonder- 
fully picturesque  as  seen  from  the  sea.  I  happened  to  have  a 
parcel  in  charge  for  the  missionary  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  station  there,  so  I  resolved  to  impose  myself  on  him. 

Mr.  Cayley  (son  of  one  of  the  Yorkshire  M.P.'s),  an  ex- 
cellent Arab  scholar,  and  dressed  in  the  costume  of  the  country, 
offered  to  act  as  my  dragoman,  on  condition  that  I  would  take 
him  with  me  to  the  missionary's :  so  I  agreed,  and  off  we  sallied, 
with  a  score  of  picturesque  porters  carrying  our  baggage ;  and 
threading  some  of  the  dirtiest  streets  in  the  world,  we  reached 
the  Rev.  Padre's  just  as  he  was  getting  up  his  Arabic  sermon 
(it  was  Sunday)  for  an  early  service.  His  pleasant  and  good- 
natured  wife  soon  appeared  with  an  invitation  to  partake  of  coffee, 
for  which  we  were  quite  ready. 

The  missionary  left  for  his  service,  and  then  we  sat  down  in  a 
little  humble,  uncarpeted,  stone-ceiled  room,  and  made  ourselves 
very  happy  over  excellent  coffee  and  sweet  bread  and  butter.  I 
then  lay  down  to  rest  for  half  an  hour,  and  afterwards  joined  in 
the  English  service  at  eleven  o'clock.  The  worthy  divine  read 
the  service  in  his  little  chapel  very  reverently  in  the  presence  of 
his  wife  and  child  and  myself  and  two  servants ;  there  was  also  the 
consul's  governess.  This  formed  the  congregation.  This  mis- 
sionary had  no  surplice,  nor  distinctive  dress  of  any  kind.  But 
in  spite  of  this,  it  was  such  a  comfort  to  me  as  I  can  never  tell. 
To  worship  once  more  with  fellow-Christians  in  a  place  set  apart 

M 


1-62  PLAINS  OF  SHARON. 

for  God,  was  a  blessing  I  could  not  measure  so  as  even  to  think 
of  it  adequately,  much  less  speak  of  it  to  another.  The  mis- 
sionary's wife  played  the  organ  in  the  little  chapel  room,  and  we 
sang  a  dear  old  familiar  psalm-tune,  and  I  felt  as  if  my  heart  would 
burst  as  I  recounted  God's  special  mercies  to  me  through  that 
month,  which  seemed  a  year  of  sorrow.  We  were  invited  to  par- 
take of  the  simple  dinner  after  service,  and  by  the  time  that  was 
over  the  mule-drivers  came  round  about  the  premises  and  urged 
us  to  our  departure. 

Our  way  lay  through  groves  of  cactus  in  full  golden  blossom 
and  forests  of  orange,  lemon,  and  pomegranate  trees.  Then  we 
emerged  into  the  plains  of  Sharon,  and  my  eyes  feasted  upon  the 
brilliant  green  of  rich  cornfields — a  feast  for  which  the  long  use  of 
the  barren  desert  had  prepared  them — with  a  relish  altogether 
unknown  to  my  fellow-travellers.  We  were  a  party  of  four — a 
German,  a  Welshman,  Cayley,  and  myself. 

By-and-by,  as  the  sun  went  down,  we  reached  the  charming 
village  of  Ramleh,  and  stopped  at  the  Latin  convent.  The  fine 
old  monk  who  opened  the  great  gate  for  us,  made  us  most  wel- 
come ;  asked  no  questions  about  our  faith ;  inquired  simply  from 
what  province — "  da  che  provincia  " — we  came,  and  then  showed 
the  way  up  a  long  winding  stair,  and  through  an  ample  court 
shaded  with  orange  trees,  to  our  cells.  .  .  . 

We  were  off  next  morning  by  cock-crow.  The  passage  from 
Ramleh  to  Jerusalem  lies  over  the  mountains,  and  is  just  as  vicious 
a  specimen  of  an  impassable  country  as  I  ever  trod  upon.  Huge 
rocks  and  stones  lie  across  the  path  at  every  turn,  and  it  is  im- 
possible to  advance  on  the  swiftest  horse  beyond  the  pace  of  a 
mile  an  hour. 

After  five  or  six  hours  of  desperate  fatigue,  through  which  we 
began  to  disbelieve  the  existence  of  Jerusalem,  so  far  remote  it 
seemed,  and  so  like  a  phantom  which  escapes  as  you  approach, 
we,  at  weary  length,  came  in  sight  of  the  city  walls.  We  had 
passed  Emmaus — or  what  is  taken  for  it — and  Kirjath-jearim, 
whither  the  Ark  was  brought,  and  then  came  suddenly  down  upon 
the  Valley  of  Gihon. 


JERUSALEM.  1 63 

Down  far  on  the  left  was  the  Valley  of  Hinnom — beautiful  with 
a  beauty  all  its  own — of  green  foliage  and  grey  rock  mixed,  and 
betokening  nothing  of  the  horrors  of  Tophet,  with  which  every  one 
doubtless  invests  it  who  thinks  only  of  Moloch  and  the  sacrifices 
offered  at  his  shrine. 

And  now  we  were  through  the  Hebron  or  Jaffa  Gate,  and 
within  the  city.  Much  as  my  mind  had  yielded  itself  to  the  first 
indescribable  impressions  of  the  City  of  Peace  and  its  associations, 
now  they  quite  vanished,  and  I  was  overwhelmed  by  two  miserable 
sublunary  anxieties — how  I  should  keep  my  seat  among  such 
broken  pavement  and  avoid  tumbling  in  the  dirt ;  and  next,  how  I 
should  ever  find  a  habitable  quarter  amid  such  wretchedness  and 
filth  !  However,  I  got  over  both  these  anxieties,  and  found  com- 
fortable quarters  at  this  hotel,  and  a  host  of  friends  whom  I  had 
met  in  Egypt. 

...  I  cannot  now  enter  into  what  I  have  seen  here,  and  what 
I  think.  All  is  uncertainty  on  every  subject.  I  wander  along  the 
Valley  of  Jehoshaphat  and  Hinnom,  and  climb  the  Mount  of 
Olivet,  and  linger  amid  the  trees  of  Gethsemane,  sure  that  there, 
at  least,  I  am  safe  in  treasuring  up  the  most  blessed  associations 
vouchsafed  to  man.  But  all  the  absurd  traditions  of  this  being 
the  spot  of  the  "  Ecce  Homo,"  and  that  the  house  of  Dives,  etc., 
etc.,  are  only  painful  in  the  extreme.  The  site  of  Calvary  and  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  also,  if  it  be  true,  is  sadly  profaned  by  the  bitter 
hostilities  of  the  rival  Christian  bodies,  who  congregate  around  it, 
and  whose  utter  disorder  and  irreverence  must  be  the  subject  of 
Moslem  pity,  as  it  is  of  every  earnest  Christian's  deep  and  unutter- 
able disgust.  .  .   .* 

In  a  letter  from  Alexandria  on  his  return  from  the 
Holy  Land,  he  says — 

May  18,  1855. 
I  joined  a   Quaker  for  my  travelling  associate,  a  Mr.   Fox, 
and  we  made  the  whole  tour  of  Palestine  in  company.     He  was  a 

*  During  his  stay  at  Jerusalem  Mr.  Skinner  sat  to  Holman  Hunt,  at  the 
artist's  request,  for  a  sketch  of  one  of  the  Rabbi  in  the  "  Finding  in  the  Temple." 


164  BETHLEHEM  AND  NAZARETH. 

very  intelligent  person,  and  I  had  great  pleasure  in  his  society ; 
but  it  is  a  somewhat  curious  circumstance  that  I  should  never  have 
been  able,  all  through,  to  find  anybody  to  travel  with  exactly  like- 
minded  with  myself.  Perhaps  this  has  been  for  my  good,  and  I 
have  learnt  to  value  and  estimate  more  highly  the  good  which  is 
to  be  found  where  I  have  perhaps  been  too  little  accustomed  to 
look  for  it.  The  first  journey  we  took  was  over  the  Mount  of 
Olives  to  Bethany,  and  so  on,  across  the  hill  country  of  Judaea,  to 
Jericho.  This  was  a  way  full  of  danger,  and  we  had  a  special 
armed  guard  to  protect  us  against  robbers.  We  passed  through 
the  scene  of  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  which  retains, to 
this  day  its  reputation  for  the  haunts  of  hard  and  cruel  bandits. 
On  the  plains  of  Jericho  we  encamped,  a  large  party ;  and  next 
day  started  for  the  Jordan,  where  we  bathed ;  and  then  reached 
the  Dead  Sea,  into  whose  waters  we  also  plunged,  and  experienced 
the  most  unpleasant  sensations  possible.  We  spent  that  night  in 
the  rocky  convent  of  Mar  Saba,  far  up  among  the  mountains, 
where  John  Damascene  and  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  lived  and  died ; 
and  next  day  proceeded  to  Bethlehem. 

A  day  or  two  more  at  Jerusalem  sufficed  for  a  rest,  and  then 
we  set  out  finally  for  the  north.  First,  to  Bethel,  and  then  to 
Sychar  and  Samaria ;  then  across  the  plain  of  Jezreel  (so  asso- 
ciated with  all  history,  from  David  down  to  the  Crusades)  to 
Nazareth,  where,  in  a  convent,  we  spent  a  charming  evening  and 
night.  Nazareth  is  the  sweetest  village,  with  the  handsomest 
peasantry,  I  ever  remember  to  have  seen.  Thence  we  ascended 
Mount  Tabor,  and  the  same  day  made  our  entrance  into  Tiberias 
by  the  soft  blue  Lake  of  Gennesaret.  We  explored  Bethsaida  and 
Capernaum,  and  made  a  day  of  it  to  Cana  of  Galilee,  where  we 
pitched  our  tent.  Next  day  we  passed  down  the  lovely  plain  of 
Zabulon,  and  arrived  at  Carmel,  where,  on  the  summit  of  a  moun- 
tain, we  took  up  our  quarters  with  the  brethren  of  the  convent. 
On  the  morrow  we  reached  St.  Jean  d'Acre,  and  so  on  to  Tyre. 
Another  day  brought  us  to  Sidon,  then  to  Beyrout,  and  then  the 
French  steamer  to  Alexandria,  whence  I  now  write.  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  IX. 

LAST  DAYS  AT   ST.   BARNABAS'. 

1855-1857. 

"  I  argue  not 
Against  Heaven's  hand  or  will,  nor  bate  a  jot 
Of  heart  or  hope  ;  but  still  bear  up,  and  steer 
Right  onward." 

St.  Barnabas'  Day,  1855,  was  indeed  a  joyful  time  to  the 
family  at  the  parsonage,  since  just  before  the  festival  they 
had  the  happiness  of  welcoming  back  the  husband,  father, 
and  brother,  apparently  entirely  restored  to  health  and 
vigour,  ready  and  eager  to  throw  himself  again  into  work. 
During  his  visit  to  Egypt,  he  had  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  Archbishop  of  Malabar,  who  was  think- 
ing of  making  a  visit  to  England  upon  some  matters 
connected  with  the  interests  of  his  flock  at  Malabar,  the 
descendants  of  a  flourishing  Nestorian  community,  but  not 
now  themselves  in  formal  heresy.  Mr.  Skinner  gave  him 
letters  to  several  people  in  England  who  might  be  of  service 
to  him,  expressed  a  hope  that  he  would  not  forget  to  pay 
St.  Barnabas'  a  visit,  and  thought  no  more  of  the  matter. 
Shortly  after  his  return  home,  his  servant  came  in  during 
dinner  to  say  that  there  was  a  gentleman  in  the  hall  with 
a   large   box,  who   could    not   speak    English.      He  went 


1 66  VISIT  OF  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  MALABAR. 

into  the  entrance  hall,  and  was  instantly  clasped  in  the 
arms  of  his  friend  the  Archbishop  of  Malabar,  and  fervently 
embraced.  When  he  could  extricate  himself  and  look  at 
his  guest,  his  horror  was  extreme  ;  it  was  the  same  vene- 
rable face  and  figure,  with  a  flowing  beard,  that  he  had  seen 
in  Egypt,  but  attired  in  the  full  and  correct  costume  of  an 
English  midshipman  !  The  effect  may  be  imagined.  To 
Mr.  Skinner's  instant  queries  as  to  the  reason  for  his  choice 
of  dress,  the  Archbishop  told  him  that  during  his  voyage 
to  England  he  had  been  assured  by  some  English  middies 
on  board  that  unless  he  provided  himself  with  a  suit  of 
clothes  in  all  points  similar  to  their  own,  including  the  cap, 
he  would  be  mobbed  in  London.  However,  he  had  brought 
his  luggage  with  him,  and  he  pointed  to  a  huge  packing- 
case,  which,  he  said,  contained  his  robes.  Mr.  Skinner 
immediately  locked  every  door  leading  from  the  hall,  and 
then  and  there  insisted  on  his  friend  unpacking  and  putting 
on  his  proper  attire,  after  which  he  introduced  a  splendid- 
looking  Eastern  Prelate  to  his  family. 

The  unexpected  guest  stayed  for  just  a  year ;  always 
communicating  at  the  altar  of  St.  Barnabas'.  Mr.  Skinner 
took  him  to  Lambeth,  having  procured  for  him  an  inter- 
view with  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  found  himself 
at  once  enfolded  in  the  close  embrace  of  brotherly  affec- 
tion, struggling  vainly  against  the  repeated  tokens  of  love 
bestowed  upon  him,  and  looking  reproachfully  at  Mr. 
Skinner  and  his  chaplain  for  having  brought  him  into  the 
predicament. 

The  following  letters,  practically  giving  freedom  to  the 
daughter  church  of  St.  Barnabas',  set  the  senior  curate 
forward  on  his  course  with  the  more  ardour  : — 


LETTER  FROM  MR.  LID  DELL.  1 67 

8,  Chesham  Street,  June  27,  1855. 

My  dear  Skinner, 

Now  that  you  are  returned  to  St.  Barnabas',  restored  by- 
God's  blessing  to  health,  I  will  lose  no  time  in  trying  to  make 
such  arrangements  about  your  position  there,  as  may  be  mutually 
satisfactory  to  us,  and  beneficial  to  those  committed  to  our  care. 

Both  of  us,  and  many  of  our  best  friends,  are  convinced  that 
an  institution  like  St.  Barnabas'  can  never  prosper  to  its  full 
extent  without  a  resident  head,  who  shall  have  power  to  govern  it 
and  be  responsible  for  it. 

I,  the  incumbent,  cannot  do  this,  because  my  presence  is  no 
less  constantly  required  at  the  parent  church  of  St.  Paul's. 

I  therefore  wish  to  commit  to  you,  as  far  as  I  lawfully  may, 
the  authority  and  responsibility  of  St.  Barnabas' ;  deeply  con- 
vinced, as  I  am,  of  your  unswerving  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the 
Church  of  England  generally,  and  to  that  of  St.  Barnabas'  in 
particular. 

I  propose,  first,  to  commit  the  charge  of  the  other  curates,  the 
school  teachers,  chorister  boys,  and  all  persons  connected  with 
the  work  of  St.  Barnabas'  to  you ;  an  appeal  lying  to  me  from 
them  in  any  instance  in  which  they  may  think  they  have  cause  of 
complaint  against  you. 

Secondly,  in  all  ecclesiastical  matters,  I  would  ask  the  Bishop 
of  the  diocese  to  agree  to  refer  to  you  primarily  for  explanations, 
etc.,  etc.,  and  to  hold  you,  in  your  measure,  responsible  for  the 
right  ordering  of  what  is  committed  to  you,  though  his  lordship 
would,  of  course,  reserve  to  himself  the  power  of  making  me, 
the  incumbent,  ultimately  responsible. 

I  think  it  desirable  that  you  should  yourself  seek  an  early  in- 
terview with  the  Bishop  ;  submit  this  letter  to  him,  and  obtain,  as 
I  should  like,  his  lordship's  approval  of  what  is  therein  proposed. 

Awaiting  the  result,  I  am,  my  dear  Skinner, 

Yours  ever  truly, 

Robert  Liddell. 
Rev.  James  Skinner. 


1 68  LETTER   TO  BISHOP  BLOMFIELD. 

Fulham,  July  II,  1855. 

My  dear  Sir, 

I  see  no  objection  to  the  arrangement  proposed  by 
Mr.  Liddell  in  his  letter  to  you  of  the  27th  ult.  But  it  must  be 
understood  that  I  must  still  look  to  him  as  being  ultimately 
responsible  for  the  management  and  conduct  of  Church  matters 
at  St.  Barnabas'. 

I  am,  my  dear  sir,  your  faithful  servant, 

C.  J.  London. 

The  Rev.  James  Skinner. 

St.  Barnabas'  was  not  long  left  in  peace.  Apparently 
a  document  containing  many  articles  of  complaint  was 
sent  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  who  required  an  explanation 
from  Mr.  Skinner.     It  is  given  in  the  following  letters  : — 

St.  Barnabas'  Parsonage,  July  12,  1855. 

My  Lord, 

I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  your  lordship's  note 
of  the  nth  inst,  enclosing  a  communication  from  Mr.  Charles 
Smyth  Vereker. 

Your  lordship  will  not  expect  any  remarks  from  me  upon  that 
document,  except  so  far  as  it  refers  to  St.  Barnabas'  Church  and 
College  especially. 

Art.  15. — The  clergy  of  St.  Barnabas'  live  in  college,  and 
in  common  upon  their  own  means.  The  boys  of  the  choir  are 
poor  orphans — scholars — clothed,  educated,  and  maintained  at  the 
cost  of  private  persons  who  contribute  money  for  the  purpose. 

The  establishment  is  neither  large  nor  expensive ;  and  the 
residence  of  the  senior  curate,  or  head,  in  the  college,  with  his  wife 
and  family,  saves  it  from  the  imputation  (whatever  that  is  worth) 
of  monasticism. 

Mr.  Vereker  speaks  of  a  vestry  or  sacristy,  fitted  up  for 
auricular  confession,  with  altar,  cross,  etc.  I  have  to  assure  your 
lordship  that  this  statement  is  incorrect. 

The  vestry  referred  to,  from  its  convenient  position,  is  well 


LETTER   TO  BISHOP  BLOMFIELD.  1 69 

suited  for  the  evening  family  prayers  of  the  whole  establishment, 
and  is  used  for  that  purpose.  But  there  is  no  "  altar  "  fitted  up. 
A  plain  and  simple  cross  stands  on  the  window  ledge. 

This  room  is  also  used  by  the  clergy  to  meet  such  persons  as 
desire  to  see  them  privately — not  being  able  to  quiet  their  own 
consciences,  but  requiring  further  comfort  and  counsel.  In  this 
room  they  come  to  us,  or  some  other,  and  open  their  grief;  and 
as  their  needs  require,  they  "  receive  the  benefit  of  absolution, 
together  with  ghostly  counsel  and  advice  to  the  quieting  of  their 
consciences  and  avoiding  of  all  scruple  and  doubtfulness." 

Mr.  Vereker  also  speaks  of  denial  "  to  the  poor  of  the  con- 
solation of  the  Lord's  Supper,  unless  they  previously  submit  them- 
selves to  the  degradation  of  a  full  confession  to  the  priest  of  their 
conduct  during  their  past  lives. "  I  believe  this  statement  to  be 
simply  false. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  lord, 

Your  lordship's  dutiful  and  faithful  servant, 

Ja.  Skinner. 


St.  Barnabas'  Parsonage,  August  3,  1855. 

My  Lord  Bishop, 

I  beg  to  return  the  copy  of  your  lordship's  letter  to  Mr. 
Vereker.  There  is  only  one  observation  which  I  desire  permission 
from  your  lordship  to  make. 

With  respect  to  auricular  confession,  your  lordship  says,  "  Mr. 
Skinner  denies  that  it  is  practised."  Now,  I  fear  this  positive 
statement  may  render  me  liable,  in  Mr.  Vereker's  mind,  to  the 
imputation  of  want  of  straightforwardness. 

I  have  not  the  least  objection  to  acknowledge  that  what  Mr. 
Vereker  calls  "auricular  confession"  is  practised  in  the  sacristy 
of  St.  Barnabas'. 

Persons  come  there  (it  is  the  most  convenient  place)  to  "  open 
their  griefs  and  to  receive  the  benefit  of  absolution,  together  with 
ghostly  counsel  and  advice." 

I  think  this  is   exactly  what  I  stated  to  your  lordship  in  my 


170  LETTER  FROM  DR.   IRONS. 

letter  of  the   12  th  of  July,  and  I  make  no  doubt  that  this  is 
exactly  what  Mr.  Vereker  means  by  "auricular  confession." 

Although,  therefore,  Mr.  Vereker's  statement,  as  a  whole,  about 
the  sacristy  was  incorrect,  I  cannot  say,  understanding  as  I  do  his 
mind,  that  we  do  not  hear  "  auricular  confessions."  I  cannot 
say  that  persons  do  not  come  to  us  to  confess,  or  that  we  do  not 
hear  such  confessions  with  our  ears. 

With  great  respect, 
Your  lordship's  faithful  son  and  servant, 

Ja.  Skinner. 

P.S. — I  have  omitted  to  observe,  with  reference  to  Mr.  Vereker's 
notion  of  choristers  tending  to  "suppress  congregational  psalmody," 
that  in  no  church  in  your  lordship's  diocese  is  praise  more  con- 
gregational than  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Barnabas'. 

The  suit  of  "  Westerton  v.  Liddell "  was  meanwhile 
proceeding,  and  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Irons  wrote  on  this 
subject  to  Mr.  Skinner  : 

Brompton,  July  28,  1855. 

My  dear  Skinner, 

The  question  to  my  mind  is,  whether  Dr.  Lushington 
will  postpone  his  decision  long  enough  to  enable  us  to  make  any 
impression  on  him  ? 

A.nd  next,  whether  we  ought  not  to  call  a  meeting  of  good 
Churchmen  to  form  a  league  for  mutual  defence  and  common 
action  in  the  event  of  an  adverse  decision  ? 

Will  you  let  me  know  what  you  think  on  these  two  points,  and 
whether  you  contemplate  anything  definite  ? 

For  myself,  regarding  the  Church  of  England  as  the  hope  and 
stronghold  of  Christianity  in  these  latter  days,  I  am  prepared,  by 
God's  help,  to  adhere  to  her  while  vitality  remains  at  all.  The 
points  now  at  stake,  let  us  be  thankful,  are  not  vital  ones.  They 
are  very  sacred,  but  we  must  not  misjudge  their  relative  value  in 
the  great  system  of  revelation. 

You  may  command  any  service  I  can  render  in  this  matter. 


DR.  LUSHINGTOJSTS  JUDGMENT.  171 

The  principal  things  that  occur  to  me,  on  reading  the  case, 
have  been  the  omitting  to  notice  the  word  "retained"  in  the 
Rubric,  and  the  re-introduction  of  the  word  "priest"  in  1662  in 
connection  with  the  removal  of  the  Rubric,  referring  us  to  the  first 
year  of  Edward  VI. 

When  the  case  of  Faulker  and  the  round  church  at  Cambridge 
was  in  court,  Bayford  was  advocate  for  the  malcontents.  His 
brother-in-law  told  me,  in  private,  that  Bayford's  feelings  were 
more  with  Churchmen  than  with  Puritans,  and  that,  when 
arguing  against  altars  (as  an  advocate),  he  came  upon,  and  now 
has  in  his  possession,  a  faculty  issued  by  Queen  Elizabeth  for  the 
erection  of  a  stone  altar ;  a  fact  which  he  would  have  been  able 
to  use  triumphantly  if  he  had  been  on  the  other  side.  I  will  try 
and  see  you  on  Monday ;  if  not,  on  Tuesday. 

Let  us  seek  from  God  His  guidance  and  support,  and  com- 
fort ourselves  with  knowing  we  have  only  to  do  our  own 
individual  duty.  The  Church  is  God's  Church.  The  cause  is 
wholly  God's.  I  am  not  in  the  least  anxious.  God  knows  what 
is  best  for  us. 

Your  brother  in  Jesus  Christ, 

W.  I.  Irons. 

Rev.  J.  Skinner,  St.  Barnabas'  College. 

P.S. — Of  course  Liddell  and  the  Oxford  men  are  in  com- 
munication. 

Dr.  Lushington's  judgment,  a  signal  triumph  for  Mr. 
Westerton  over  his  vicar,  was  given  in  December  of  this 
year.  A  summary  of  the  foundations  which  he  laid  down 
for  his  conclusions  is  thus  given  by  Mr.  Skinner.     First — 

(a)  Avowing  that  he  had  "no  authority  to  guide  him,"  he 
nevertheless  set  aside  the  Ecclesiastical  Common  Law  of  Celtic 
and  Anglo-Saxon  times,  and  the  Provincial  and  Diocesan  Con- 
stitutions, all  being  still  alive  and  in  force  where  not  contrary  to 
statute. 


172  DR.   LUSHINGTOWS  JUDGMENT. 

(b)  He  assumed  arbitrary  rules  of  policy  as  a  guide,  converting 
words  into  a  negative  and  exclusive  sense  which  are  affirmative 
and  directory ;  laying  down  that  what  the  Church  has  prescribed 
is  a  virtual  prohibition  of  everything  else,  ejusdem  generis,  contrary 
to  common  sense  and  English  jurisprudence  j  limiting  the  liberty 
which  the  law  allows,  and  imposing  the  tyranny  of  a  minimum 
when  the  Church  gives  the  freedom  of  a  maximum. 

"  The  policy  of  one  age,"  says  Story  in  his  "  Conflict  of  Laws," 
"may  ill  suit  the  wishes  of  another;  but  the  law  is  not  to  be 
subject  to  such  fluctuations."  Nevertheless,  Dr.  Lushington 
undertook,  on  principles  of  arbitrary  selection,  to  enact  laws  for 
the  Church  of  England. 

Now,  secondly,  observe  the  conclusions  to  which  he  arrived. 

(i)  He  outraged  and  insulted  Christianity,  by  abrogating  the 
use  of  the  cross  altogether  as  a  symbol  to  adorn  our  churches. 

(2)  He  pronounced  the  Church  of  England  to  be  a  newly 
constituted  society,  without  identity  or  continuity  or  connection 
with  the  historical  Church  of  Christ ;  his  decision  was  equivalent 
to  a  revolution,  to  an  entire  reconstruction  of  the  Church,  on 
wholly  new  and  unheard-of  principles. 

(3)  The  Sacrament,  commonly  called  "the  Mass"  in  the  times 
preceding  the  third  year  of  Edward  VI.,  he  declared  to  be 
"  annihilated  root  and  branch, — extirpated  by  authority  of  Parlia- 
ment," and  a  new  ordinance,  with  no  relation  to  the  former,  sub- 
stituted by  the  same  authority,  in  its  place. 

(4)  He  insulted  the  character  of  one  of  the  greatest  men  that 
England  has  known — the  Christian  philosopher  and  Bishop,  Butler 
of  Durham, — and,  though  occupying  the  seat  of  justice, 

"  Rebus  et  ordine  dispar," 

pronounced  him  to  be  a  "  deviator  into  Roman  Catholic  practice," 
so  "shadowing  the  purity  of  his  faith,  and  the  integrity  of  his 
character." 

The  gravity  of  such  a  crisis  to  the  Church,  as  these  sweeping 
conclusions  of  the  Consistory  Court  of  London  brought  upon  her, 
can  hardly  be  measured ;  and  it  will  be  impossible  for  the  historian 


PRIVY  COUNCIL  JUDGMENT.  1 73 

of  the  future  to  evade  the  duty  of  minutely  detailing  the  circum- 
stances and  arguments  of  attack  and  defence. 

This  is  not  the  place  or  the  time  for  a  detailed  history  of  the 
long  litigation,  as  to  the  ornamenta  {i.e.  the  furniture  of  English 
churches  and  the  vestments  of  the  English  clergy),  which  has 
made  "the  Knightsbridge  churches"  famous;  but  it  is  the  place 
and  the  time  for  saying,  with  all  distinctness,  that  the  inestimable 
gain  which  resulted  from  the  issue  of  that  litigation  to  the  whole 
Church,  is  mainly  due,  under  God,  to  the  courage  and  persever- 
ance and  self-denying  love  of  Robert  Liddell,  who  bore  con- 
tentedly the  weary  weight  of  the  worse  than  uncertainty  of  judicial 
decisions  on  religious  questions,  from  1854  to  1857. 

.  .  .  Through  his  zeal,  carrying  the  case,  amid  all  the  dis- 
couragements of  defeat  by  the  way,  to  the  highest  Court  of 
Appeal,  the  Church  has  obtained  that  vantage  ground  of  triumph 
which  secures  the  whole  principle,  for  the  fruits  of  which  she  is 
fighting  still,  and  from  which  she  is  resolved,  God  helping,  never 
to  be  dislodged. 

We  are  not  now  concerned  with  the  question  of  the  fitness  of 
the  Privy  Council,  in  Judicial  Committee,  to  sit  upon  spiritual 
and  ecclesiastical  questions ;  least  of  all  are  we  concerned  with 
the  consistency  of  judgments,  at  various  times  pronounced  by  the 
same  Court  upon  the  same  subjects.  What  we  are  concerned 
with  is  this  : — that,  rightly  or  wrongly,  hearing  the  appeal  from 
the  two  Courts  below,  the  Privy  Council  reversed  nearly  every  im- 
portant dictum  in  which  the  former  were  agreed,  and  established, 
for  ever,  a  historical  fact  which  is  not  less  a  pi'inciple  of  religion. 
And  what  fact?  That  the  "Ornaments  Rubric"  of  1 661,  which 
stands  in  the  forefront  of  our  Prayer-Book,  covers  the  legality  of 
the  things  so  much  disputed,  and  for  ever  connects  the  Church  of 
England  of  to-day  with  the  Church  of  England  of  ancient  times. 

It  is  nothing  to  us,  though  it  is  a  discredit  to  them,  that  judges 
have  since  sat  in  that  Court  of  Appeal  who  have  seemed  to  confirm 
Dr.  Lushington's  view  of  policy  and  his  wild  and  revolutionary 
opinions,  rather  than  their  own  solemn  decision.  We  only  claim 
to  be  supported  by  the  result  for  which  we  contended  so  long  and 


174  ORNAMENTS  RUBRIC. 

so  laboriously  in  the  Knightsbridge  suits,  and  we  mean  never  to 
let  that  support  go.  Not  the  use  of  the  cross  only,  but  of  all  the 
ornamenta  which  our  public  worship  requires,  is  secured  to  us  by 
statutable  authority,  according  to  the  judgment  of  the  Court  of 
Appeal. 

Let  me  quote  the  exact  words — "  Here  it  is  to  be  noted  that 
the  minister,  at  the  time  of  the  Communion,  and  at  all  other  times 
of  his  ministration,  shall  use  such  ornaments  in  the  church  as 
were  in  use  by  authority  of  Parliament  in  the  second  year  of  the 
reign  of  King  Edward  VI.,  according  to  the  Act  of  Parliament  set 
in  the  beginning  of  this  book."  "  Here  the  term  'ornaments  '  is 
used  as  covering  both  the  vestments  of  the  ministers  and  the  several 
articles  used  in  the  services ;  it  is  confined  to  such  things  as,  in 
the  performance  of  the  services,  the  minister  was  to  use."  "  The 
Rubric  to  the  Prayer-Book  of  January  i,  1604,  adopts  the  language 
of  the  Rubric  of  Elizabeth.  The  Rubric  to  the  present  Prayer- 
Book  adopts  the  language  of  the  Statute  of  Elizabeth  ;  but  they  all, 
obviously,  mean  the  same  thing — that  the  same  dresses,  and  the 
same  utensils,  or  articles,  which  were  used  under  the  first  Prayer- 
Book  of  Edward  VI.  may  still  be  used." 

I  beg  you  to  notice  how  plain  and  clear  and  unambiguous  was 
their  way  to  this  decision ;  they  speak  of  it  as  obvious  ;  they  were 
not  driven  to  read  a  not  into  the  text,  or  to  interpolate  the 
"  Advertisements "  of  Elizabeth  in  order  to  extract  some  more 
popular  explanation ;  but,  they  said,  with  the  simplicity  of  fair- 
dealing  men,  "  when  reference  is  made  to  the  first  Prayer-Book  of 
Edward  VI.,  with  this  explanation  of  the  term  '  ornaments,'  no 
difficulty  will  be  found  in  discovering  among  the  articles,  of  which 
the  use  is  there  enjoined,  '  ornaments '  of  the  church  as  well  as 
'  ornaments  '  of  the  minister.  Besides  the  vestments,  differing  in 
the  different  services,  the  Rubric  provides  for  the  use  of  an 
English  Bible,  the  new  Prayer-Book,  a  poor  man's  box,  a  chalice, 
a  corporas,  a  paten,  a  bell,  and  some  other  things."  That  these 
articles  were  included  in  the  term  "  ornaments  "  of  the  church,  at 
the  period  in  question,  is  clear. 

No  subsequent  manipulation  of  the  Ornaments  Rubric  by  the 


SERIOUS  ILLNESS.  175 

Privy  Council  can  deprive  us  of  the  first,  the  natural,  the  common- 
sense  construction  which  such  men  as  Lords  Cranworth,  Wensley- 
dale,  and  Kingsdown,  Sir  John  Patteson,  and  Sir  Wm.  Maule 
put  upon  it.  But  for  this  we  are  largely  indebted,  under  God,  to 
Robert  Liddell ;  and  the  present  sanctuary  and  reredos  erected 
in  St.  Paul's  in  1870  is  the  fittest,  as  it  is  the  most  telling,  witness 
to  the  debt ;  for  every  detail  of  that  structure  was  passed  through 
the  Consistorial  Court,  and  declared  to  be  according  to  law. 

The  anxiety  and  disappointment  of  the  suit,  however, 
without  the  final  victory,  all  came  during  Mr.  Skinner's 
charge  of  St.  Barnabas'.  He  worked  through  the  winter  of 
1855,  but  in  the  hot  summer  of  1856  began  again  to  suffer 
from  serious  attacks  of  illness,  entirely  disabling  him  from 
time  to  time.  He  struggled  on,  against  his  doctor's  re- 
peated assurance  that,  unless  he  at  once  entirely  gave  up 
all  work  for  two  years,  he  would  soon  have  to  give  it  up 
altogether. 

In  August  he  ruptured  a  small  blood-vessel  from 
violent  coughing,  and  it  was  then  that  he  had  to  look  the 
fact  seriously  in  the  face  that  he  must  resign  the  curacy  of 
St.  Barnabas'  and  leave  London.  The  two  following 
letters  were  written  about  this  time : 

Middleton  Rectory,  August  13,  1856. 
My  very  dear  Friend, 

Thanks  for  all  your  kind  and  affectionate  words.  I  do 
feel  quite  resigned  to  God's  will,  whatever  that  may  be.  I  hope 
it  is  not  my  own  will  that,  being  thwarted,  perplexes  me.  I  try 
myself  honestly ;  and  I  think  the  one  difficulty  which  presses,  in 
connection  with  my  sickness,  is,  how  far  I  may  go  in  hindering 
the  work  of  St.  Barnabas',  by  keeping  out  an  abler  man.  Do  not 
flatter  me  by  telling  me  that  I  am  the  man,  etc. ;  for  that  is  very 
humbling,  knowing  myself  as  I  do.      God  makes  men  for  His 


176  SERIOUS  ILLNESS. 

own  purposes  :  He  puts  down  one  and  raises  up  another.  And 
if  He  intimates  as  much,  I  must  take  it  to  myself  that  He  has  no 
longer  use  for  me  in  my  present  sphere.  So,  really,  ought  I  not 
to  resign  at  once,  and  allow  another  to  come  and  take  my  office  ? 
That  is  the  one  question  which  perplexes,  now  again,  as  once  it  did 
before.  I  do  not  think  that  there  would  be  means  forthcoming 
for  an  extra  man ;  and  if  there  were,  I  must  still  work  and  move 
as  the  life  of  the  whole  :  and  am  I  fit  for  it  ? 

The  cough  continues  very,  very  unyielding  :  no  more  blood, 
but  pain  and  sleeplessness  and  feebleness  unutterable.  But  I 
do  not  wish  to  seem  to  complain.  God  is  Love ;  and  so  I  feel 
and  know  Him  to  be. 

Reading,  Berks,  SS.  Simon  and  Jude,  1856. 
My  dear  Friend, 

We  are  now  drawing  near  homeward,  and  we  are  both 

glad  of  it.     To-morrow,  please  God,  we  shall  be  at  St.  Barnabas' 

once  more.     Yet  now  I  must  feel,  what  I  have  always  so  dreaded, 

that  I  am  coming  to  call  St.  Barnabas'  home  for  a  little,  and  then, 

no  more. 

The  trial  to  myself  is  very  heavy :  I  cannot  bear  the  thought 
of  it.  To  others,  I  feel  sure  there  will  be  no  loss  which  will  not 
be  tenfold  made  up  by  the  appointment  of  a  stronger  and  an  abler 
man.  But  it  is  sad  to  feel  one's  self  cast  off,  at  such  a  crisis  for  the 
Church  as  this  ;  and  I  need  your  prayers  for  faith,  and  patience' 
and  endurance,  and  all  graces  of  hope  and  love. 

I  am  really  stronger  in  body,  though  my  cough  continues,  and 
my  voice  is  often  gone. 

Still  he  struggled  against  the  conviction,  hoping,  with 
the  sanguine  hope  which  was  part  of  his  nature,  that 
temporary  absences  would  give  him  power  enough  to  hold 
on  to  his  passionately  loved  church  and  district.  As  before, 
his  kindest  friend  had  to  come  to  the  rescue. 

I  consider  it  cruel  towards  you  and  your  dear  wife  (Mr.  Liddell 
wrote  on  November  5,  1856)  to  allow  you  to  remain  at  St.  Barnabas' 


LETTER  FROM  MR.   LIDDELL.  1 77 

in  your  present  state.  Not  only  are  you  unable  to  do  any  duty, 
but  it  will  be  in  my  opinion  as  much  as  your  life  is  worth  to 
reside  at  St.  Barnabas'  during  the  approaching  winter  months.  .  .  . 
My  own  private  conviction,  in  which  all  friends  whom  I  have 
consulted  concur,  is  that  the  only  reasonable  hope  of  your 
restoration  to  health,  and  of  the  prolongation  of  your  valuable  life, 
is  to  go  abroad  to  the  same  climate  which  did  you  so  much  good 
before.  But  I  wish  to  fortify  my  own  opinion  by  that  of  a 
medical  man. 

Two  days  later,  after  quoting  the  medical  opinion,  he 
continues  : 

Now,  my  dearest  friend,  with  deep  grief,  but  without  any 
doubt  as  to  what  my  duty  is,  I  feel  imperatively  bound  to  call 
upon  you  to  resign  the  cure  of  St.  Barnabas'. 

You  yourself  know  how  I  had  anticipated  availing  myself  of 
your  services  there. 

But  disabled  as  you  are,  by  the  sovereign  will  of  Clod,  I  must 
bow  my  head  and  seek  for  another  coadjutor. 

I  feel  that  it  is  of  infinite  moment  to  you  that  you  should  get 
away  to  a  warmer  climate  immediately,  while  the  weather  is  yet 
such  as  not  to  prevent  your  moving. 

Whatever  your  own  self-devotion  may  be,  /  have  to  remember 
your  poor  wife  and  child,  to  whom  you  must  be  everything  ;  and 
I  cannot  suffer  you,  so  far  as  my  influence  goes,  to  remain  in  a 
locality  which  I  verily  believe  would  be  your  actual  death  before 
the  winter  was  over.  .  .  . 

I  have  no  misgivings  about  St.  Barnabas'  eventually  coming 

right,  if  we  do  our  own  duty.     It  may  comfort  you  under  the  painful 

prospect  of  your  severance  from  St.  Barnabas',  to  mention,  in  close 

confidence,  that  so  soon  as  I  shall  have  received  from  you  the 

formal  intimation  that  you  resign  your  curacy  in  compliance  with 

my  request  (for  I  will  take  the  whole  responsibility  of  the  act  upon 

myself),  I  purpose  to  offer  the  post,  so  onerous  yet  so  honourable, 

to  Mr.  Gresley.     But  I  have  as  yet  had  no  communication,  direct 

or  indirect,  with  him  upon  the  subject. 

X 


1/8  RESIGNATION  OF  ST.   BARNABAS'. 

I  am  simply  inclined  to  believe  that  he  might  take  it,  and  I 
consider  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  a  more  eligible  man. 
Believe  me,  my  dear  Skinner,  with  true  affection, 

Your  faithful  friend  and  brother  in  Christ, 
Robert  Liddell. 

Mr.  Skinner  apparently  sent  in  his  resignation  the  same 
clay,  for  the  following  touching  note  bears  the  same  date  as 
the  preceding  letter  : — 

36,  Wilton  Crescent,  November  7,  1856. 
My  dear  Skinner, 

I  cannot  comment  on  your  letter ;  it  is  too  touching,  and 
makes  my  very  heart  ache. 

No,  dearest  friend,  I  will  not  hurry  you  so  far  as  your  domestic 
arrangements  are  concerned ;  only  would  I  hurry  you  personally, 
and  that  from  love,  that  you  may  not  throw  away  a  chance  of 
improvement  by  delay. 

If  want  of  money  stops  you  I  will  try  and  advance  you  what  is 
necessary,  and  trust  to  the  sympathy  of  friends  for  helping. 

My  single  view  is  to  get  you  into  a  warmer  climate  before  it  is 
too  advanced  in  the  winter  for  you  to  be  able  to  move. 

But  in  this,  take  the  advice  of  your  medical  men.  I  am,  how- 
ever, much  mistaken  if  they  will  not  press  the  same  point.  .  .  . 

I  have  no  time  for  more.  God  ever  bless  and  support  you.  I 
wish  for  efficiency's  sake  it  were  me  to  go  and  you  to  stay. 

Always,  my  dear  Skinner, 
Your  faithful  and  affectionate  friend  and  brother  in  Christ, 

R.  L. 

On  Christmas  Day,  1856,  Mr.  Skinner  preached  his 
farewell  sermon  to  an  overflowing  congregation,  and  on  the 
last  day  of  the  year  left  his  home  at  St.  Barnabas'  in 
obedience  to  the  call  which  bade  him  part  from  the  work 
dearest  to  him  on  earth. 

His  congregation  connected  his  name  with  St.  Barnabas' 


DEPARTURE  FROM  ENGLAND.  jyg 

for  ever  by  placing  a  certain  sum  in  consols,  "  to  be  paid  in 
half-yearly  dividends  to  such  poor  person  or  persons,  being 
communicants  at  St.  Barnabas',  as  he  should  during  his  life 
from  time  to  time  nominate  in  writing  to  receive  the  same, 
such  nomination  to  be  yearly  made  on  the  F'east  of  St. 
Barnabas' ;  "  and  a  brass  tablet  recording  the  benefaction 
was  placed  on  the  tower  pier  in  the  church.* 

Mr.  Skinner  was  unable  to  leave  England  until  March  2, 
1857. 

On  that  morning  (his  wife  wrote)  there  was  a  special  celebration 
of  the  Holy  Communion  at  St.  Barnabas',  at  which  one  hundred 
and  ninety-two  communicated  with  us.  A  number  of  our  dear 
friends  accompanied  us  to  the  Waterloo  Station,  and  saw  us  off  to 
Southampton ;  and  thus  we  took  leave  of  our  beloved  St.  Barnabas'. 

The  travellers  reached  Mentone  on  March  11.  A  few 
extracts  from  letters  home  describe  their  way  of  life. 

Hotel  des  Quatres  Nations,  Mentone,  March  13,  1857. 

.  .  .  We  have  been  house-hunting  ever  since  we  arrived 
(Wednesday,  nth),  and  hope  we  may  have  found  at  last  a  pretty 
little  villa  likely  to  suit  us —  Villa  Ste.  Anne.  It  is  in  a  lovely  quiet 
situation,  standing  alone  with  a  garden  in  front  and  facing  the  sea, 
on  the  east  side  of  the  town,  and  about  ten  minutes'  walk  from  it. 
It  is  backed  with  a  grove  of  orange  and  lemon  and  olive  trees. 
Our  landlord,  M.  Massa,  is  a  gentlemanly,  agreeable  person, 
and  a  first-rate  violinist,  and  has  been  frequently  to  the  hotel  to 
play  with  me.  It  is  most  delightful  to  both  James  and  myself, 
and  brings  back  to  my  mind  happy  hours  at  Middleton  with  my 
dear  father. 

.  .  .  There  are  only  two  English  families  here  besides  our- 
selves, and  they  have  been  here  all  the  winter.  The  Rev.  John 
Monsell,t    with   his   wife   and   three    charming    daughters;    the 

*  It  was  removed  hy  his  successor,  and  placed  behind  the  font. 

t  Afterwards  Dr.  Monsell,  Vicar  first  of  Egham  and  then  of  Guildford. 


I  SO  MENTONE. 

youngest  much  out  of  health ;  it  is  for  her  sake  they  are  here. 
The  other  family  are  the  Rev.  Thomas  Arthur  Babington,*  with  his 
wife  and  two  little  girls,  about  the  same  ages  as  our  children.  Mr. 
Babington  is  much  out  of  health,  and  has  to  give  up  duty  for  the 
present.     They  are  most  kind,  agreeable  people. 

At  present  there  are  no  other  English  families  here,  and  I  was 
told  the  other  day  that  this  is  the  first  winter  that  any  English  have 
visited  Mentone.  Nice  is  the  favourite  place,  but  we  cannot 
understand  its  being  preferred  to  Mentone. 

Villa  Ste.  Anne,  May  iS,  1857. 
.  .  .  We  like  our  pretty  villa  very  much,  and  we  fit  into  it 
beautifully.  We  are  able  to  reserve  one  room  for  an  oratory,  and 
James  has  fitted  it  up  beautifully.  We  have  full  service  every 
Sunday,  with  Holy  Communion.  Our  dear  friends  the  Monsells 
and  Babingtons,  I  regret  to  say,  have  left ;  but  I  think  the  Babing- 
tons  will  return  in  the  autumn. 

Villa  Ste.  Anne,  Mentone,  December  30,  1857. 

.  .  .  There  are  a  number  of  English  families  here,  besides  our- 
selves and  the  Babingtons,  this  winter,  and  many  are  most  thank- 
ful to  avail  themselves  of  the  services  in  this  house  on  Sundays 
and  holy  days.  On  Christmas  Day  we  had  twenty  communicants. 
There  is  a  door  between  the  little  room  which  we  have  fitted  up 
as  an  oratory  and  the  drawing-room.  So  we  open  this  door  now, 
and  most  of  the  congregation  are  in  this  larger  room.  We  have 
full  choral  service  ;  I  play  the  piano,  and  the  children  and  others 
sing  capitally. 

Mr.  Babington  and  James  take  the  services  between  them, 
which  seem  to  be  much  valued  by  the  English  visitors.  Dear 
James  usually  gives  an  address,  and  this  quite  takes  me  back  to 
St.  Barnabas'.  .  .  .  Crowds  of  the  inhabitants  assemble  at  our 
gate  during  the  service — the  music  attracting  them.  I  think  they 
are  much  puzzled  at  our  proceedings. 

Mr.   Skinner   did  not  cease  to  try  and  help  by  corrc- 
*  Afterwards  Rector  of  Wanlip,  Leicester. 


LETTER   OF  ADVICE.  iSl 

spondence  those  whom  he  had  formerly  taught.  He  writes 
to  one  of  these,  giving-  some  suggestions  as  to  special 
Lenten  devotion  : 

I  advise  you  to  take  half  an  hour  or  twenty  minutes  of  every 
day  this  Lent  .  .  .  take  a  certain  period  of  your  life  every  day, 
comparing  it,  as  it  was,  with  what  it  is  in  God's  sight,  the  light  of 
His  love  having  come  upon  you  to  illuminate  your  view  of  it.  At 
another  part  of  the  day,  take,  each  day,  one  of  these  four  necessary 
virtues,  and  resolve  to  exercise  them  : — 

i.  Humility — by  keeping  yourself  always  back,  as  nothing  ; 
looking  upon  God  as  all ;  humbling  yourself  to  your  neighbour,  in 
something  or  other,  daily.  In  order  to  this,  think  upon  what 
you  have  deserved  by  your  ingratitude  to  God  and  your  sins,  and 
therefore  that  the  least  service  you  receive  from  others  is  more 
than,  often,  you  have  paid  to  God,  and  more  than  you  have  really 
deserved. 

2.  Penitence — frequently  recall  your  chief  sins,  and  place 
yourself  before  God  as  a  penitent,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Magdalene, 
or  St.  Peter,  or  the  publican.  Offer  to  God,  in  a  penitential  spirit, 
whatever  pains,  or  trials,  or  sufferings  you  have,  and  even  death 
itself. 

3.  Resignation — resigning  yourself  to  God's  will  in  all  events, 
remembering  that  nothing  happens  without  His  permission  and 
pleasure ;  and  that  this  or  that  cross  is  what  God,  from  eternity, 
has  designed  for  you,  to  be  your  probation. 

4.  Recollection — calling  to  mind,  as  often  as  you  can  in  the 
day,  the  presence  of  God.  Making  frequent  ejaculations  and 
aspirations,  and  acts  of  love  to  Him  ;  offering  Him  frequently  in 
the  day  your  whole  being ;  and  banishing,  as  much  as  you  can, 
all  vain  amusements,  and  anxious  cares,  and  irregular  affections, 
that  you  may  the  more  easily  repose  in  Him. 

You  should  say  the  seven  penitential  psalms,  one  every  morn- 
ing, and  the  fifteen  gradual  psalms,  one  every  evening,  during 
Lent ;  in  thought  of  the  humility  of  Jesus,  and  of  your  desire  to 
be  humbled  and  to  be  humble. 


1 82  LENTEN  RULE. 

As  to  fasting,  you  must  not  attempt  it,  except  under  medical 
advice ;  but  deny  yourself  in  inner  things,  such  as  pleasures  in 
social  sympathy,  reading,  etc. 

To  another,  who  had  asked  for  a  Lenten  rule,  he  gave 
the  following ;  it  is  written  in  pencil,  and  evidently  during 
a  time  of  weakness  : — 

1.  Make  this  Lent  the  occasion  for  practising  the  ordinary 
discipline  of  a  regulated  Christian  life,  according  to  the  sketch 
which  you  have  already  received. 

II.  Distrust  yourself,  but  trust  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Begin  everything  by  saying  inwardly,  "  As  many  as  are  led  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  thev  are  the  Sons  of  God.'' 

And  in  order  to  rooting  this  dependence  on  the  Spirit  into 
your  life,  meditate  quietly  once  a  week  (say,  on  Sunday  evenings) 
on  Rom.  viii.,  concluding  with  the  "  Veni  Creator." 

III.  Aim  continually  and  continuously  in  all  things,  great  and 
small,  inward  and  outward,  to  honour  and  glorify  God,  as  the 
motive  and  purpose.  The  regeneration  and  perfection  of  a  soul 
is  nothing  for  its  own  sake.  But  for  the  glory  of  God  it  cost  the 
Incarnation  and  Crucifixion  (in  that  Incarnation)  of  the  Eternal 
Son.  You  only  live,  therefore,  at  all,  that  you  may  glorify  God  : 
and  you  never  so  glorify  Him,  as  when  you  are  conformed  to  the 
life  of  God  in  our  flesh,  and  when  you  offer  that  life  and  that  death 
as  the  sacrifice  which  your  sin  caused  and  His  love  accepted. 

For  special  Lenten  discipline,  take — 

i.  One  penitential  psalm  (out  of  the  seven)  to  be  said  before 
each  of  your  regular  acts  of  devotion,  both  in  closet  and  at 
church. 

2.  One  book  for  spiritual  reading,  an  hour  in  the  morning. 

3.  One  book  for  spiritual  reading,  an  hour  in  the  evening. 
To  refuse  all  other  reading  on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays. 

4.  Exempt  from  fasting  from  flesh  meat  except  on  ...  . 

5.  Instead  of  such  fast,  to  give  the  cost  of  a  portion  of  meat  to 
some  poor  or  sick  ;  and  to  say  a  special  intercession  for  the  self- 
indulgent  and  luxurious  in  all  different  ranks  of  life. 


0  J ER-OCCUPA TION<  I  8 3 

(a)  The  Court. 

(b)  The  aristocracy. 

(c)  The  clergy  and  gentry. 

(d)  The  mercantile  and  trading. 

(e)  The  army  and  navy ;  and  also  for  the  profligate  and 
abandoned  in  vice,  both  rich  and  poor.  To  say  this  specially  in 
a  church  (if  there  is  opportunity)  on  all  days  on  which  you  eat 
flesh  meat  by  exemption. 

6.  Every  day  in  Lent,  on  which  you  communicate,  say  the 
prayer  of  St.  Gregory  on  the  Passion  before  receiving,  with  a  short 
act  of  contrition,  either  overnight  or  in  the  morning. 

7.  On  days  on  which  you  do  not  receive,  say  the  Stations  of 
the  Cross  and  the  Litany  of  the  Passion. 

The  following  letter  appears  to  have  been  written  with 
the  feeling,  from  his  own  experience,  of  the  evils  of  over- 
occupation  : — 

I  am  clear  in  my  judgment  that  you  are  sinning  against  one  of 
the  highest  duties  to  God,  your  neighbour,  and  yourself,  in  im- 
posing upon  yourself  an  amount  of  work  which  would  be  beyond 
your  strength  if  you  were  a  paid  Secretary  of  State.  I  well  know 
your  zeal  .  .  .  but  really  good  work  is  never  done,  when  it  is  out 
of  proportion  to  our  means  of  doing  it  well ;  and  no  work  is  reallv 
wcll  done  when  it  is  only  effected  by  the  sacrifice  of  powers  which 
are  all  wanted  for  other  ends,  none  of  which  can  afford  to  be 
missed,  even  in  part,  much  less  altogether. 

I  cannot  understand  why  you  should  not  compel  yourself  to 
see  that.  Even  when  things  most  crowd  in  upon  you,  the  work  of 
disposing  of  them  is  better  done  quietly  and  deliberately,  one  after 
another,  as  strength  will  bear,  than  tumultuously,  under  the  misery 
of  strain,  pressure,  and  exhaustion  ;  and,  spiritually,  you  should 
try  always  to  remember  that  everything  (no  matter  what  it  may  be) 
which  comes  to  your  hand  to  do  can  only  be  good  when  it  is 
done  for  God,  and  that  nothing  is  well  done  for  God  which  is 
done  without  due  regard  to  His  peace-bringing  and  restful 
Presence. 


184  LETTER  TV  ADVENT. 

In  Advent  he  sent  to  one  whom  he  had  taught — 

Thoughts  of  Prayer  on  the  Incarnation. 

An  Exercise  before  Christmas. 

I.  That  the  will  of  God  elected,  from  all  eternity,  to  empty 
Himself  of  His  glory  and  to  take  flesh,  in  order  that  I  might  be 
restored  to  the  glory  which  I  had  lost. 

Glory  be  to  the  Father,  etc. 

Our  Father. 

Collect  for  Annunciation  and  for  Christmas. 

II.  That  the  will  of  God  to  accept  the  humiliation  of  the 
Incarnation  was  to  Him  a  joy,  and  that  He  rejoiced  as  a  giant 
':  to  run  his  course,"  thereby  identifying  all  profitable  and  real  joy 
with  self-sacrifice. 

Glory  be  to  the  Father,  etc. 

Our  Father. 

Collect  for  Annunciation  and  Christmas. 

III.  That  the  will  of  God  to  be  humbled  and  to  identify  humi- 
liation with  joy,  finds  its  expression  in  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ, 
from  the  womb  to  the  cross,  offering  to  me,  in  detail,  the  things  I 
have  to  do  and  fear,  in  order  to  be  "  made  like  "  unto  Him. 

Glory  be  to  the  Father,  etc. 

Our  Father. 

Collect  for  Annunciation  and  Christmas. 

He  writes  later  to  the  same  pupil  : 

Try  to  cultivate  that  perfect  contentment  and  sufficiency  in 
Jesus,  which  the  Blessed  Virgin  had  in  her  Son,  so  that  she  felt 
nothing  as  a  sorrow  or  trouble  in  her  tried  life,  till  she  was 
separated  from  Him.  Surely  with  Him,  and  in  Him,  we  have 
all  else.  To  be  unhappy  about  anything,  therefore,  except  losing 
Him  is  a  sign  that  we  are  not  cultivating,  absolutely,  our  privilege 
of  possessing  Him.  An  ancient  spiritual  guide  who  is  a  great 
help  to  me  says  that  in  seeking  a  perfect  knowledge  of  one's 
self,  there  are  specially  the  emotions  to  be  watched  of  the  four 
passions— (1)  Joy,  (2)  Sorrow,  (3)  Hope,  and  (4)  Fear,  as  being  the 


SPIRITUAL  FEEBLENESS.  1 85 

roots  or  sources  of  all  emotions  whatever.  One  should  restrain 
them  in  their  first  rising,  not  only  when  they  are  engaged  on 
wrong  objects,  but  on  objects  which  do  not  really  concern  or 
belong  to  one :  because  one  is  perpetually  excited  to  joy,  to 
sorrow,  to  hope,  to  fear,  about  mere  trifles  or  imaginary  things  ; 
and  so  the  soul's  strength  gets  weakened  through  occupying  the 
mind  and  the  will  with  objects  beside  the  Divine  end.  When  the 
things  are  really  necessary,  and  do  concern  our  real  self,  then  we 
may  safely  leave  them  with  God,  commend  them  to  Him,  and  so, 
as  it  were,  "divinize"  them.  Thus,  if  you  have  a  joy  naturally 
and  necessarily  growing  out  of  some  blessing,  in  grace  or  in  nature, 
something  beautiful  and  good,  let  your  joy  not  be  in  it,  but  in  God, 
whose  work  it  is.  "  I  will  rejoice  in  giving  praise  for  the  opera- 
tions of  Thy  hands."  So  if  you  have  hope  in  a  matter  of  health, 
or  success  in  an  undertaking,  or  an  honour  expected,  take  care 
that  it  is  in  Him,  and  because  of  His  will  being  done  and 
His  glory  increased.  And  so  also,  if  you  have  a  grief,  or  sorrow, 
or  cause  of  depression  and  anxiety,  do  not  let  your  fear  have  any 
respect  to  the  evil  in  itself  (except  as  it  is  some  plain  fault  in  your- 
self) ;  let  it  expend  itself  on  what  the  loss  of  God  would  be. 

Another  method  is  to  think,  when  a  great  joy  comes,  of  how 
much  more  after  one's  deserts  it  would  be  to  have  a  heavy  sorrow ; 
and  so  to  learn  the  more  to  attribute  it  alone  to  God.  And  then 
when  depressed  with  one's  little  success  in  spiritual  gifts  and  pro- 
fitableness generally,  there  comes  a  conviction  that,  after  all,  one 
has  only  been  dealt  with  as  one  deserves ;  and  this  conviction  is, 
by  the  law  of  God's  providence,  a  substantial  gain  in  the  spiritual 
life.  So  also  if  one  is  agitated  by  fears  and  misgivings,  the  way  is 
to  turn  them  into  acts  of  the  will,  in  the  exact  opposite  direction. 
This  was  St.  Francis's  rule — "  Accipe  dulcia  pro  amaris,  amara  pro 
dulcibus."  I  think  my  child  may  ivy  to  imitate  it,  in  her  measure, 
with  good  results. 

Is  it  not  so,  that  the  enfeebling  of  the  soul's  strength,  which 
seems  occasionally  to  manifest  itself  in  you,  comes  of  too  little 
trust  in  God,  and  too  great  introspection  of  and  dwelling  upon 
self,  or  on  human  aids  ?    The  first  remedy  for  it  is  to  believe  that 


1 86  COURAGE. 

God's  care  for  you  is  singular^  just  as  if  you  only  lived.  There  is 
nothing  ordered  for  you  that  is  not  ordered  by  Him,  for  His  own 
greater  glory  and  your  greater  profit  (i  St.  Peter  v.  7).  In  every 
trouble  appeal  to  Him  ;  lay  it  before  Him,  and  then  leave  it,  in 
perfect  confidence  as  to  the  result. 

The  next  remedy  is  to  extinguish,  to  the  uttermost  of  your 
power,  all  anxiety  to  stand  well  in  human  eyes,  and  to  banish 
every  rising  of  vanity,  and  vainglory,  and  love  of  applause.  One's 
care  and  anxiety  should  rather  be,  lest  one  should  not  incur  the 
reproof  and  rebuke  of  the  world,  and  even  of  respectable  and  good 
men ;  at  least,  if  equal  glory  should  be  rendered  to  God  by  so  doing, 
and  one's  own  will  and  opinion  is  not  the  end  served.  It  seems 
to  those  whose  experience  in  spiritual  life  is  long  and  abundant, 
that  in  things  lawful  one  should  aim  at  that  which  would  be  less 
acceptable  to  men,  if  one  would  gain  complete  mastery  over  that 
timidity  and  pusillanimity  which  are  such  hindrances  in  serving 
God. 

May  God  the  Holy  Ghost  bless  these  hints  to  you. 


CHAPTER  X. 

LIFE  AT   HILLINGDON. 
1858-1861. 

"  Our  wills  are  ours,  we  know  not  how  ; 
Our  wills  are  ours,  to  make  them  Thine." 

In  the  early  summer  of  1858  Mr.  Skinner  returned  with 
his  family  to  England,  having  spent  a  year  in  his  home  on 
the  Riviera.  He  had  made  an  excursion  to  Lyons  during 
the  previous  summer,  to  try,  by  the  advice  of  his  London 
doctor,  a  course  of  electricity  under  a  famous  practitioner,  and 
for  a  short  time  it  had  done  him  much  good.  But,  although 
travelling  by  easy  stages  from  Mentone  to  London,  he  was 
so  unwell  that  at  one  time  it  was  feared  that  he  could  not 
continue  the  journey,  and  when  at  last  he  reached  England, 
his  friends  were  shocked  at  his  appearance,  for  he  looked 
almost  like  a  dying  man.  After  a  time  he  went  to  Scotland, 
near  Inverary ;  and  he  said  long  afterwards,  "  As  soon  as 
my  foot  was  upon  my  native  heath,  I  began  to  revive." 
The  bracing  climate  did  him  far  more  good  than  the  south 
of  France,  but  he  was  still  too  much  of  an  invalid  to 
attempt  any  work  for  others  except  by  letter,  and  he  spent 
the  winter  of  1858-9  at  Clifton. 

To  a  friend  who  had  written  to  him  on  the  subject  of 


1 88  SCOTCH  LITURGY. 

difficulties  in  prayer,  and  also  on  the  difference  between  the 
Scottish  and  English  Liturgy,  he  writes  : 

...  A  few  words,  on  each  of  your  difficulties,  may  suffice  for 
the  present. 

I.  The  Scottish  Liturgy  is  founded  upon  the  ancient  Liturgical 
models  of  the  East,  all  of  which  bring  in  the  invocation  for  the 
change  in  the  elements,  by  the  action  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  after 
the  words  of  the  institution. 

II.  The  English  office  is  founded  upon  the  Romci7i  use,  which 
brings  in  the  invocation  before  the  words.  Indeed,  the  English 
(modern)  office  has  omitted  (alas !)  the  specific  words  of  invoca- 
tion altogether  !  But  it  implies  the  invocation,  which  is  sufficient 
for  the  validity  of  the  consecration.  "  Hear  us,  O  merciful  Father, 
we  most  humbly  beseech  Thee ;  and  grant  that  we  receiving  these 
Thy  creatures  of  bread  and  wine,  according  to  Thy  Son  our 
.Saviour  Jesus  Christ's  holy  institution,  .  .  .  may  be  partakers  of  His 
most  blessed  Body  and  Blood. " 

This  is  a  plain  and  direct  prayer  to  God  (who  operates  always 
by  the  Third  Person  in  the  glorious  Trinity)  to  make  the  Com- 
munion of  bread  and  wine — to  those  who  receive  them — the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ. 

Therefore,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  so  far  as  the  invocation 
is  necessary  to  the  validity  of  consecration,  the  English  office  has 
that  invocation.  The  only  question  is — (i)  ought  it  to  be  offered 
before  the  words  of  institution  or  after  them?  and  (2)  can  it  affect 
the  consecration  itself,  its  being  cither  the  one  or  the  other  ? 

The  answer  is — 

1.  The  Eastern  Church  has  from  the  beginning  observed  the 
use  of  the  invocation  after  the  words ;  while  the  Western  Church 
(except  the  ancient  Spanish,  and  perhaps  the  Gallican,  both  of 
Eastern  origin)  has  observed  it  before  the  words.  It  may,  conse- 
quently, be  either  way  (though  the  Eastern  is  the  more  ancient). 
Because — 

2.  The  consecration  depends  really  upon  our  Blessed  Lord's 
own  words,  which  being  His  words,  are  the  words  of  the  Holy  Ghost 


METHOD  IN  PRAYER.  1 89 

also,  and  carry  with  them  what  they  import,  and  so  long  as  the  in- 
vocation is  allied  and  attached  to  the  words,  it  can  in  no  degree- 
he  important  whether  it  precedes  or  follows  them  in  its  effect — 
which  is  to  witness  that  He  who  transforms  the  creatures  into  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  is  the  Holy  Ghost. 

III.  As  to  books  of  devotion,  if  they  distract  you,  set  them 
aside,  at  least  for  a  time.  But  you  must  be  very  careful  not  to  let 
your  mind  roam  at  random,  even  in  prayer,  without  a  book ;  if 
so,  you  will  probably  land  in  greater  distraction  than  before.  I 
would  advise  you  to  arrange,  first,  in  your  mind,  the  order  of  your 
prayer,  under  each  head  of  devotion ;  and  then  to  let  it  go  free, 
to  use  its  own  devotional  instincts  in  the  expression  of  each.  For 
instance — 

1.  Adoration. 

2.  Thanksgiving. 

3.  Confession  of  sin. 

4.  Oblation  of  self. 

5.  Petition  for  grace. 

6.  Intercession  for  others. 

You  will  find  this  plan  expanded  in  my  "  Twenty-one  Heads."  .  .   . 


1.  As  to  the  power  of  "realizing"  God's  presence  in  His 
house  or  anywhere  :  you  must  first  consider  that  it  never  can  be 
realized ;  that  no  flesh  can  adequately  or  truly  see  God.  It  is 
possible,  therefore,  that  straining  after  something  which  cannot  be 
"  realized  "  you  fail,  and  so  grow  disheartened  and  discouraged 
without  good  reason.  The  consciousness  of  God's  presence  with 
us  always  is  a  moral  and  spiritual  gift,  which  deals  entirely  with 
the  conscience,  and  keeps  it  restrained  and  controlled,  and,  so  to 
say,  under  continual  fear  of  offending.  The  exercise  of  this 
becomes  habitual  to  those  who  desire  to  have  it,  and  who  make 
a  point  of  continually  asking  the  Holy  Spirit  to  give  it  to  them 
and  to  keep  them  in  it.  If  you  will  make  a  point  every  day,  and 
frequently  during  the  day,  of  asking  God  the  Holy  Spirit  to  keep 
you  under  the  sense  of  the  Divine  presence,  to  rule  all  you  say 


190  DISTRACTIOXS  IN  PRAYER. 

and  think  and  do,  and  will  put  the  card  which  I  send  you  in  the 
form  of  a  prayer  (which  you  may  learn  by  heart,  and  say  often 
during  the  day),  you  will  be  much  helped. 

2.  As  to  distractions  in  prayer — take  this  advice.  Some  are 
voluntary,  others  are  involuntary.  Of  the  former,  if  you  are  guilty 
of  them,  consider  how  dishonouring  and  insulting  to  God  it  must 
be  to  behave  to  Him  worse  than  your  politeness  would  make  you 
behave  to  a  friend ;  to  come  to  speak  to  Him,  and  to  hear  Him 
speak,  and  then  wilfully  and  on  purpose  to  turn  your  mind  and 
thoughts  away  from  Him  elsewhere.  To  do  this  wilfully  is,  of 
course,  wilfully  to  rob  yourself  of  grace — of  the  very  thing  which 
you  pretend  to  seek  for ;  and  it  is  worse  than  this — it  is  wilfully 
to  provoke  God  to  anger  by  the  very  means  by  which  you  pretend 
to  conciliate  Him.  The  very  thought  of  such  an  awfully  wicked 
thing  would  keep  every  one  from  voluntary  distractions  in  prayer. 
Yet  some  are  guilty  of  these,  and  the  only  remedy  is  to  seek  out 
the  cause  and  remove  it.  The  cause  is  some  unguarded  and 
unmortined  affection  for  earthly  objects  which  are  deliberately 
encouraged  to  come  in  between  the  soul  and  God.  You  may 
easily  multiply  the  wilful  distractions  in  prayer  by  the  wilful  acts  of 
unmortification  of  the  senses.  They  who  yield  up  everything  they 
ask  for  to  the  outward  senses  must,  of  course,  be  filled  with  dis- 
tractions, for  which  they  have  none  but  themselves  to  blame. 
Get  into  the  habit  of  controlling  and  mortifying  the  tongue,  ear, 
eye,  etc.,  and  voluntary  distractions  will  soon  cease.  Or  again, 
those  who  do  not  prepare  themselves  for  prayer,  who  neglect  to 
be  in  church  before  service  for  the  purpose  of  prayer,  that  they 
may  pray,  or  else  do  not  well  consider,  before  they  begin  their 
private  prayer,  what  it  is  for  they  are  going  to  thank  God  or  to 
ask  Him,  are  sure  to  be  distracted ;  but  that  again  is  their  own 
fault.  For  nothing  could  be  simpler  and  easier  than  to  consider 
beforehand  the  order  and  the  matter  of  the  prayer  which  they 
arc  going  to  offer. 

As  to  involuntary  distractions — do  not  be  so  much  distressed 
about  them,  as  anxious  to  accept  them  as  a  just  punishment  from 
God  for  past  sins,    in   the   spirit   of    humility  and    repentance : 


CONTRO  VERS  Y.  191 

submit  to  them  and  bear  them,  condemning  yourself,  and  asking 
God  for  grace  not  to  yield  yourself  to  them.  There  are  two 
things  to  consider  in  them.  There  is  the  distraction  in  itself,  and 
there  is  the  painful  sense  which  it  brings  with  it.  The  distraction 
in  itself  you  cannot  but  hate,  you  cannot  but  not  consent  to  it, 
but  the  pain  which  it  brings  to  you  is  good  for  you — it  is  a  sign 
that  you  do  not  love  to  be  distracted,  and  that  you  love  prayer  ; 
for  those  who  do  not  love  prayer  love  to  be  distracted.  In  this 
way,  distraction  is  like  any  other  temptation  to  which  you  do  not 
3'ield — an  evil  in  itself,  but  an  instrument  for  humbling  you  and 
making  you  vile  in  your  own  eyes,  which  is  the  way  of  becoming- 
great  in  the  eyes  of  God.  Besides,  distractions  of  this  kind  are 
often  the  punishment  for  having  long  neglected  prayer,  or  used 
it  amiss  in  days  gone  by ;  yes,  and  for  having  too  long  put  off  the 
effort  to  do  better.  It  is  but  just  that  God  should,  for  a  time, 
refuse  to  us  those  graces  which  He  would  have  given  to  us  had 
we  persevered  in  prayer  without  falling  away,  but  which  we  did 
not  care  to  have  when  we  might.  Prayer  is  familiarity  with  God, 
but  you  do  not  become  familiar  with  one  whom  you  have  seldom 
spoken  to  or  cared  to  see,  all  at  once,  do  you  ? 

But  take  your  distractions,  so  long  as  they  are  not  wilful,  as 
your  just  punishment.  Bear  this  humbly  as  your  desert.  Perse- 
vere continually  and  earnestly  against  them ;  praying  on  in  spite 
of  them.  God  may  take  them  away  from  you  and  set  you  free, 
or  He  may  not.  Never  mind.  Go  on  trusting  Him  for  years  ;  yea, 
■even  unto  death. 

3.  As  to  controversy — my  earnest  advice  to  you  is  always  to 
decline  it  as  a  rule.  For  the  most  part,  you  will  do  no  good  with 
it  to  others,  and  you  will  greatly  wrong  yourself.  Set  a  good 
-consistent  example  of  holy  living,  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
Church,  being  always  bright  and  cheerful  among  those  with  whom 
you  live ;  say  frankly  that  you  prefer  not  to  discuss  religious  con- 
troversy— and  you  will  do  far  more  good  to  others  and  to  yourself 
than  by  any  other  way.  The  way  of  love  and  gentleness  is  the 
conqueror's  way  always.  Christianity  is  something  for  us  to  live 
out,  not  to  talk  about. 


192  L  EXT  EX  THOUGHTS. 

In  Lent  he  wrote  to  another  : 

Draw  up  categorically  the  revealed  tokens  of  love  in  the 
Epistle  for  Quinquagesima,  and  every  day  take  one  point,  and 
examine  yourself  by  it,  beginning  again  when  you  have  gone 
through  the  fifteen.  On  Wednesdays  and  Fridays  take  them  all, 
and  go  through  them.  There  is  nothing  so  humbling  as  that 
Epistle,  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has  revealed  that  we  may  possess 
every  possible  gift,  and  yet  be  nothing. 

As  to  spiritual  exhaustion,  the  feeling  as  though  all  were  of  no 
use — it  is  in  the  experience  of  all,  you  are  not  singular ;  and  there 
is  this  to  learn  from  it,  that  God  is  humbling  you,  and  so  bringing 
you  nearer  to  Himself;  that  it  is  more  profitable  than  consolation, 
because  through  desolation  we  are  more  humbled,  and  humiliation 
is  the  only  way  to  solid  exaltation,  even  though  it  may  go  on  to 
the  end,  till  we  reach  the  other  shore. 

What  God  sees  in  you  is  the  want  of  self-subjugation.     He 
out  of  love  brings  you  to  this.     Take  it  as  a  sign  of  love,  thank 
Him  for  it.     Say  to  yourself,  "  Who  am  I  ?     I  am  not  an  angel. 
I  am  not  as  Adam  was  created.     Yet  if  an  angel  fell,  if  sinless 
human  nature  fell,  who  am  I,  to  think  I  should  not  fall  ?  "     This 
brings  me  to  what  is  far  more  dangerous  than  spiritual  desolation 
— the  habit  of  forgetting  what  has  been  enjoined  on  you  as  helps 
to  spiritual  progress.     You  remember  what  Dr.  Pusey  says — "that 
men  more  often  forsake  God  through  forgetting  Him  than  through 
denying  Him."     It  is  like  the  danger  of  losing  a  treasure  through 
putting  it  into  a  vessel  with  holes.     It  is  like  putting  sand  of  gold 
into  a  sieve.     We  ought  to  be  adding  to  our  store,  not  losing. 
When  we  forget,  we  are  not  "holding  fast  that  we  have."     We 
cannot  afford  to  lose  grace  :  watch  against  that,  against  not  living 
in  the  presence  of  God. 

Aim  at-  nothing  short  of  perfection.  And  yet  you  should 
think  why  you  so  continually  fail  not  only  as  to  your  own 
standard,  but  even  as  to  a  lower  standard,  coming  short  of  even 
respectable  spiritual  progress.  It  is  that  self-adoration.  But  do 
not  be  disheartened ;  it  is  a  universal  epidemic,  which  can  only  be 


HILLINGDON.  1 93 

counteracted  by  supernatural  aid.  What  you  have  to  think  of 
is,  what  efforts  are  you  making  to  overcome  it  ?  Are  you  in 
earnest  ?    Are  you  humbled  ? 

The  summer  of  1859  was  spent  amongst  friends  in 
England  and  Scotland,  and  in  October  Mr.  Skinner  settled 
himself  with  his  family  at  Hillingdon  Cottage,  near  Ux- 
bridge,  with  the  thought  that  it  might  be  his  permanent 
home  for  years.  He  was  anxious  to  be  near  London,  as 
he  was  much  occupied  at  this  time  with  setting  on  foot  and 
organizing  the  English  Church  Union,  in  concert  with  the 
Hon.  Colin  Lindsay,  whom  he  had  frequently  met  during 
the  summer  of  1859. 

Archdeacon  Denison  has  told  us  lately  that  "  there  Is 
the  English  Church  Union  itself  gathering  into  one  as- 
pirations and  local  efforts  in  the  cause  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.  I  was  in  i860  chairman  of  the  meetings  at  Mr. 
Trower's  rooms,  in  Victoria  Street,  which  issued  in  the 
formation  and  development  of  the  English  Church  Union. 
I  have  lived  to  see  nearly  every  one  with  whom  from  the  out- 
set it  had  been  my  happiness  to  labour  in  the  first  and  best 
of  all  common  and  public  causes — to  see  these  pass  away." 

For  the  first  two  or  three  years  (Mr.  Lindsay  writes)  Mr. 
Skinner  and  I  met  very  frequently,  and  many  consultations  we  had 
together  on  various  subjects. 

The  English  Church  Union  was  no  doubt  the  issue  of  his 
brain — as  you  will  see  from  the  enclosed,  it  was  originally  the 
old  Church  of  England  Protection  Society  that  he  founded. 
Although  I  was  the  first  president,  he  was,  till  he  resigned,  the 
real  leader  of  the  society.  I  became  his  successor,  as  it  were,  his 
mantle  falling  on  my  shoulders,  though  I  had  not  a  spirit  equal  to 
his.  He  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  I  ever  knew,  and 
had  he  been  blessed  with  strong  health  would  have  left  the  impress 

O 


194  LETTER  FROM  HON.    COLIN  LINDSAY. 

of  his  mind  upon  the  whole  body  of  the  Church  of  England. 
One  begins  and  another  takes  up  the  work,  the  architect  being 
often  removed  and  the  work  left  behind. 

12,  Prince  of  Wales  Terrace,  Kensington,  December  I,  1S82. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Skinner, 

You  asked  me  to  "give  you  any  information  in  my  power 
as  to  the  work  Mr.  Skinner  and  I  did  together  many  years  ago ; " 
and  you  ask  me  whether  he  had  not,  with  me,  a  great  deal  to  do 
with  the  founding  of  the  English  Church  Union,  and  also  with 
the  first  bringing  out  of  the  Church  Review  ? 

It  is  more  than  twenty  years  ago  since  I  first  met  Mr.  Skinner, 
and  my  meeting  with  him  was  brought  about  in  the  following 
manner : — 

In  1849  a  number  of  Church  Unions  were  formed  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  which  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  became  a 
number  of  disorganized  bodies.  A  few  years  after  (I  forget  the 
exact  year),  Mr.  Skinner  and  I,  then  strangers,  conceived  the  idea 
of  so  reorganizing  these  Unions  that,  out  of  the  chaos,  union  and 
united  action  might  be  the  result.  Mr.  Skinner,  with  Mr.  Perry  * 
and  others,  founded  the  Church  Protection  Society,  and  I,  who 
was  then  President  of  the  Manchester  Church  Society,  with  the 
committee  of  the  association,  called  a  meeting  of  all  existing 
Church  Unions  and  the  Church  of  England  Protection  Society, 
which  took  place  in  London.  This  meeting  resulted  in  the  selec- 
tion of  the  last-named  society  as  the  nucleus  from  which  the  whole 
Church  Union  system  was  to  arise. 

The  Church  of  England  Protection  Society,  under  the  manage- 
ment of  Mr.  Skinner,  amended  its  rules,  adapting  them  to  altered 
circumstances,  and  changing  its  name  to  that  of  the  English 
Church  Union.  I  subsequently  became  president,  and  my  old 
friend  Mr.  Skinner  honorary  secretary.  For  a  few  years  we  worked 
together,  and  many  plans  were  formed  and  carried  into  effect  by 
us  both,  with  the  consent  of  the  council. 

Among  these  was  the  establishment  of  a  paper  which  took  the 

*  Rev.  T.  W.  Perry,  now  Vicar  of  Ardleigh,  Essex. 


FORMATION  OF  "ENGLISH  CHURCH  UNION"        1 95 

name  of  the  Church  Review.  I  do  not  remember  whether  he  or 
I  first  proposed  its  institution ;  we  talked  over  the  matter  many 
times  between  ourselves,  and  the  result  was  the  Church  Review, 
which  was  intended  to  be  the  organ  of  the  Union,  and  the  medium 
of  communication  with  members.  Mr.  Skinner  was  its  first 
editor,  and  he  worked  at  it  with  a  will  and  earnestness  which 
ultimately  obliged  him  to  give  it  up  for  want  of  physical  power. 
The  articles  in  the  first  and,  I  think,  the  second  volume  were 
chiefly  his,  and  very  able  they  were. 

But  we  did  more  together  than  establish  this  paper.  We  laid 
down  the  plans  for  developing  the  Union,  by  the  formation  of 
local  branches  and  other  forms  of  organization,  the  results  of 
which  we  now  see  in  the  present  body. 

I  think  I  have  said  everything  connected  with  Mr.  Skinner's 
work  in  the  foundation  and  development  of  the  English  Church 
Union,  in  which  he  had  the  largest  share,  as  also  in  the  case  of  the 
Church  Review,  and  I  think  that  the  present  members  of  the  Union 
owe  him  a  great  debt  of  gratitude  for  the  wisdom,  energy,  and 
marked  ability  he  displayed  at  the  beginning  of  the  career  of  both. 

The  English  Church  Union  is  now  a  powerful  body  for  good 
or  for  evil  (the  former  I  hope,  though  I  am  no  longer  a  member 
of  the  Church  of  England) ;  but  the  Church  Review  is,  unless 
greatly  improved,  a  poor  affair. 

A  few  years  after  the  formation  of  the  Union,  Mr.  Skinner 
resigned  his  post  of  honorary  secretary,  and  I  assure  you  I  missed 
him  greatly  for  many  a  month ;  for  I  had  to  carry  on  the  work 
without  his  valuable  assistance,  without  his  knowledge  to  instruct 
me,  and  without  his  long  experience  to  guide  me.  His  resignation 
was  a  great  loss  to  us  all. 

It  was  a  great,  though  sad,  pleasure  to  meet  him  last  year  at 
Bath,  after  so  many  years'  separation.  My  meeting  him  again 
revived  all  my  earlier  affection  for  him,  and  I  mourned  for  him 
when  it  pleased  God  to  take  him.  Daily  do  I  pray  for  his  soul, 
for  I  believe  He  always  acted  in  perfect  good  faith  towards  God 
and  His  Church. 

I  am  yours  truly, 

Colin  Lindsay. 


196  TOUR  ON  THE   CONTINENT. 

Meantime,  in  his  quiet  country  home,  and  without  the 
anxieties  of  a  cure  of  souls,  Mr.  Skinner  was  gradually  re- 
gaining some  measure  of  health.  In  the  summer  of  i860  he 
went  abroad  with  a  friend,  visiting  Switzerland,  the  north 
of  Italy,  Vienna,  and  other  places.  It  was  during  the  Pro- 
testant furor  at  St.  George's-in-the-East,  and  his  account 
of  a  Protestant  service  at  Breslau  is  evidently  written  with 
a  view  to  English  bigotry. 

Bellagio,  Lago  di  Como,  August  13,  i860. 

I  spent  some  days  at  Zurich,  and  I  find  that  once  greatly 
privileged  place  in  Puritan  estimation  wholly  given  to  indifference 
or  unbelief.  There  is  but  one  pastor  in  the  place  who  preaches 
"  evangelically,"  and  he  is  so  dull  that  few  go  to  hear  him. 

The  Protestants  of  Zurich  have  no  religious  creed  by  which  to 
live,  and  so  they  live  by  the  light  of  conscience.  There  is  a 
good  moral  life  among  many,  and  a  bad  moral  life  among  many. 
But,  speaking  generally,  there  is  a  religious  life  among  none.  On 
one  day  in  the  week,  Sunday,  they  worship  God  by  preaching  in 
the  churches,  early  in  the  morning,  to  which  few  go.  The  rest  of 
the  day  is  given  to  pleasure.  And  the  pleasures  of  Zurich  are 
just  such  as  would  naturally  follow  a  sapless  service  of  preaching, 
and  contrast  with  the  pleasures  which  follow  a  living  service  of 
Eucharistic  sacrifice. 

I  do  not  approve  of  all  the  pleasures  in  which  I  see  those 
indulge  who  have  attended  early  Mass  in  other  places,  any  more 
than  I  approve  of  the  pleasures  of  the  people  at  Zurich.  But  I 
say  that  in  the  two  kinds  of  pleasure  there  is  a  contrast  j  and  the 
pleasures  at  Zurich,  which  are  of  the  lowest  kind — beer-drinking 
and  shooting — are  in  the  teeth  of  the  religion  which  the  people 
profess.  Catholics  may  exceed  in  their  Sunday  pleasures.  But 
they  do  not  please  themselves  at  the  cost  of  their  religious  pro- 
fession. The  Protestants  of  Zurich  both  exceed  in  their  Sunday 
pleasures  and  set  their  religious  profession  at  defiance.     I  believe 


PROTESTANTISM  ABROAD.  1 97 

that  the  profession  of  Protestantism  at  Zurich  is  the  profession  of 
no  religion  at  all. 

Again,  there  is  a  state  of  confusion  among  Protestants  abroad 
for  which  I  was  not  prepared.  There  are  some  three  or  four 
hundred  Swiss  and  German  Protestants  at  Milan,  Lutherans  and 
Calvinists.  Nothing  can  be  more  distinct  than  the  creeds  of 
Lutherans  and  Calvinists,  and  nothing  more  important  than  the 
distinction.  The  whole  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  and  its  effects 
is  implied  in  it.  Yet  at  Milan  the  Lutherans  and  Calvinists  have 
but  one  "  minister  "  between  them,  and  one  church.  First,  their 
Holy  Communion  is  celebrated  for  Lutherans  by  this  pastor,  who 
is  himself  a  Calvinist,  and  received  by  the  people  outside  the  rails, 
kneeling,  with  the  wafer  placed  in  the  mouth,  and  the  cup  not 
passed  into  the  hands.  And  then  it  is  celebrated,  by  the  same 
man,  for  Calvinists,  and  the  people  enter  within  the  rails, 
approach  the  table,  stand,  and  (as  I  am  told)  help  themselves. 
And  all  this  is  done,  with  no  sense  whatever  of  its  inconsistency, 
not  to  say  profanity,  for  the  sake,  first  of  economy,  and  secondly 
of  preserving  a  notion  of  unity  among  themselves  in  the  face  of 
the  Latin  Communion. 

Such  is  Protestantism.  And  in  the  Roman  Church  the  state 
of  things  is  little  better.  Since  the  political  bouleversement  of  last 
year  and  this,  contempt  for  the  Church  among  the  higher  classes 
is  openly  avowed.  The  whole  body  of  the  priesthood  is  spoken 
of  with  disrespect,  and  the  ordinances  which  they  minister  with 
profane  disregard.  Women  are  the  chief  worshippers,  and  for 
them,  and  for  children,  and  for  the  poor  it  is  plainly  said  the 
system  may  do.  The  educated  men  despise  it.  A  Milanese 
gentleman,  whom  I  met  recently,  treated  excommunication  as  an 
excellent  joke ;  and,  including  himself  in  the  sentence  which  is 
supposed  to  affect  the  King  of  Sardinia,  asked  derisively,  "  What 
can  it  work  on  me  ?  I  am  the  same  man  the  day  after  it  that  I 
was  the  day  before  it ! "  The  corruption  of  the  Church,  through 
Roman  error  and  extravagance,  is  now  bringing  forth  its  proper 
fruits.  And  God  only  knows  at  what  a  terrible  cost  to  how  many 
thousand  souls ! 


I9§  LETTER  FROM  MUNICH. 

Meantime,  of  all  the  blessings  which  we  English  Catholics 
enjoy,  the  greatest  by  far  is  that  safeguard  against  Protestantism 
on  one  side,  and  Romanism  on  the  other — the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer. 

May  God  preserve  it  whole  and  entire  to  us,  and  us  faithful 
and  unflinching  to  it,  should  be  our  daily  prayer. 

To  his  child  he  wrote  : 

Munich,  September  6,  i860. 

My  Darling, 

.  .  .  Innspruck  is  a  lovely  place.  I  was  there  last 
Sunday.  And  Sunday  was  the  "  Feast  of  the  Guardian  Angel." 
The  simple  people  of  the  beautiful  mountains  and  valleys  and 
river-sides  love  to  think  of  the  angels  that  keep  watch  over  their 
beloved  land,  and  over  themselves  and  their  families ;  and  they 
keep  one  day  in  the  year  as  a  great  and  holy  festival,  and  they 
devote  themselves,  all  that  day,  to  blessing  God  for  their  guardian 
angel.  I  was  very  fortunate  in  finding  all  this  out,  and  making 
my  way  across  the  river  Inn  to  the  suburbs  of  the  town,  where,  in 
procession,  the  peasants,  in'  beautiful  costumes,  were  carrying 
banners  to  the  sound  of  music,  before  and  behind  a  large  image 
of  the  "  Guardian  Angel,"  and  saying  prayers  and  singing  hymns. 
First  came  the  men  with  their  rifles,  with  which  they  are  always 
ready  to  defend  their  valleys;  then,  the  priests  in  their  vestments; 
and  then,  women  and  little  girls  dressed  in  white,  with  beautiful 
garlands  of  flowers.  It  was  a  lovely  sight,  and  the  simple  piety  of 
the  peasant  people  moved  my  heart  and  made  me  glad. 

May  God  bless  my  darling  little  girl,  and  make  her  guardian 
angel  to  keep  watch  over  her !  And  may  she  never  frighten  her 
angel  away,  by  naughty  words  or  thoughts  or  deeds  ! 

To  a  friend  he  wrote  from  Dresden  : 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  churches  at  Breslau  are  the  two 
Protestant  parish  churches  of  the  city — the  St.  Mary  Magdalene 
and  the  St.  Elizabeth  churches.  They  are  remarkable,  not  simply 
as  treasuries  of  art — which  they  are  emphatically — but  as  tokens 


SERVICE  AT  BRESLAU.  1 99 

of  the  spirit  of  Protestantism  at  Breslau.  Nothing  has  been  de- 
faced or  destroyed  in  these  churches.  Even  the  huge  "  sacra- 
ment houses"  remain.  The  Reformation  which  began  here  in 
1523  seems  even  now  to  hold  the  place  which  it  held  then;  not, 
probably,  in  respect  of  the  fervour  of  its  adherents,  but  in  relation 
to  the  old  religion  which  went  before. 

I  witnessed  an  extraordinary  scene  at  St.  Elizabeth's,  which  I 
will  try  to  describe.  While  examining  the  church,  which,  like  all 
"Protestant"  churches,  had  been  locked  up,  and  was  only 
accessible  through  five  silver  groschen,  I  suddenly  observed  per- 
sons entering  and  walking  eastward,  as  if  for  service.  A  bell  also 
began  to  ring  from  the  tower  of  the  church.  Was  there  to  be  a 
service  ?  I  inquired  of  my  attendant.  Yes,  was  the  reply.  So  I 
took  a  seat  and  prepared  to  assist  at  it. 

Several  respectable  well-dressed  men— tradesmen  of  the  town 
apparently — took  their  places  north  and  south  in  the  choir  stalls, 
which  "  remain  as  in  times  past ; "  while  a  few  stragglers,  men  and 
women,  occupied  places  in  the  nave.  And  then  I  began  to  ex- 
pect the  "  minister,"  and  to  conjecture  what  the  service  might  be. 
But  suddenly,  to  my  surprise,  one  of  the  respectable  men  went  off 
with  a  Latin  antiphon,  and  the  rest  took  it  up,  and  on  they 
hurried  through  an  hour  service  of  the  Roman  Breviary  !  It  was 
the  most  absurd  and  ludicrous  imitation  of  the  most  careless  and 
slovenly  and  perfunctory  type  of  a  Roman  ministration  it  had  ever 
been  my  lot  to  hear.  The  burlesque  lasted  for  an  hour,  during 
which  persons  might  be  seen  laughing  heartily ;  and  then  it  came 
to  an  abrupt  end ;  and  the  performers  departed  hastily,  as  they 
had  arrived. 

I  arrested  one  of  them,  and  begged  for  an  explanation  of  this 
painful  exhibition,  and  of  the  position  of  those  who  had  acted  in 
it.  I  used  the  words  "Breviarium  Romanum,"  "Ad  Vesperas," 
"  Completorium ; "  but  he  said  he  was  quite  ignorant  of  Latin,  and 
did  not  know  whether  those  words  explained  the  service  or  not. 
However,  he  kindly  consented  to  show  me  the  manuscripts  from 
which  he  had  been  singing.  It  was  a  jumble  of  the  vespers  and 
compline  offices  written  out  and  sung  by  rote ;  and  I  found  the 


200  ST.   ELIZABETH'S   CHURCH. 

singers  to  be  the  paid  choirmen  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  St. 
Elizabeth,  and  the  reason  to  hang  upon  the  tenure  of  a  considerable 
endowment  from  the  chapter  of  the  Cathedral  of  St.  John  Baptist, 
which  would  be  taken  away  the  moment  that  the  office  should 
cease  to  be  sung  !  The  priest's  part  should  be  sung  by  one  of  the 
clergy ;  as,  no  doubt,  the  whole  should  be  sung  as  worship.  But 
not  so.  The  clergy  avoid  it :  it  is  sung  chiefly  for  the  money. 
It  is  in  the  bond  that  they  should  sing.  So  sing  they  must,  as 
seldom  as  possible — once  a  month  or  twice — and  with  more 
irreverence  and  contempt  than  it  is  possible  to  describe.  It  is 
difficult  to  say  how  discreditable  to  both  sides — to  the  Roman 
cathedral  and  to  the  Protestant  St.  Elizabeth's — is  the  con- 
tinuance of  this  enormous  profanity. 

No  sooner  was  the  burlesque  ended,  than  the  real  service  of 
the  Protestants  began.  The  organ  pealed  forth  the  magnificent 
hymn  of  Luther,  and  men  and  women,  chiefly  poor,  began  to 
arrive.  And  now  for  the  daily  evening  service  of  the  Protestants 
of  Breslau.  Let  there  be  no  mistake.  Let  those  who  use  the 
word  "  Protestant  "  in  England,  so  ignorantly,  learn.  The  thing 
at  Dresden  is  a  degeneracy.  At  Berlin  it  is  a  modern  device. 
The  angry  men  at  St.  George's-in-the-East,  the  sober  men  at  St. 
George's,  Hanover  Square,  have  not  got  the  thing  at  all.  This  at 
Breslau  is  the  model  of  Protestantism — the  only  true  Protestant- 
ism— the  traditional  Protestantism  of  1529,  when  the  Elector  of 
Saxony,  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  and  the  Prince  of  Anhalt, 
and  the  deputies  protested  in  the  Diet  of  Spire  against  the  Edict  of 
Worms.  Let  me  describe  it  as  I  see  it  now,  recalling  St.  Eliza- 
beth's at  Breslau. 

The  organ  is  sounding  out  the  hymn  of  Luther,  while  a  young 
man,  of  grave  and  earnest  aspect,  arrayed  in  a  black  vestment 
with  a  white  ruff,  after  the  pictures  of  Fathers  Luther  and 
Melanchthon,  ascends  the  pulpit.  With  much  devotion  and 
gravity  he  reads  a  lecture,  and  then  turning  eastward,  all  the  con- 
gregation turn  eastward,  while  he  sums  up  with  the  Lord's  Prayer. 
And  now  there  is  a  pause.  While  the  preacher  descends,  all  eyes 
are  on  the  altar,  the  "  high  altar,"  over  which  a  colossal  crucifix, 


SERMON  AT  WESTMINSTER  ABBEY.  201 

with  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  St.  John  on  either  side,  is  exalted, 
and  upon  which  two  high  candles  burn  in  the  broad  light  of  day. 
And  presently  the  grave  young  man  issues  forth  from  the  sacristy 
— yes,  there  is  a  "sacristy"  too,  and  with  an  altar  in  it,  "as  in 
times  past."  No  longer  in  his  black  vestment,  he  is  now  robed 
in  a  surplice,  and  that  as  short  as  the  most  advanced  "  Puseyite  " 
could  desire.  Turning  his  back  to  the  people,  and  standing  in 
the  midst  of  the  altar,  he  "  intones  "  or  sings  his  prayers.  Finally, 
he  turns  round,  and  waving  his  hand  in  the  form  of  the  cross,  he 
blesses  the  people,  and  they  depart. 

He  must  have  been  in  much  stronger  health  now  (his  wife 
writes),  for  I  find  this  entry  in  my  journal : — 

"  Sunday \  April  21. — James  preached  in  the  evening  at  West- 
minster Abbey,  at  the  request  of  the  Dean.*  It  was  a  crowded 
congregation,  and  most  attentive :  a  striking  sight.  Martin 
Luther's  hymn  was  sung  not  only  by  the  fine  choir,  but  by  that 
great  mass  of  persons.  I  never  heard  it  sound  so  grand.  I  was 
most  agreeably  surprised  in  the  strength  and  clearness  of  my 
husband's  voice.  He  preached  for  three-quarters  of  an  hour ;  his 
voice  quite  filled  the  nave,  and  it  appeared  to  be  no  effort  to 
him,  nor  was  he  the  worse  for  the  exertion." 

*  Now  Archbishop  of  Dublin. 


CHAPTER  XL 

NEWLAND. 

1861-1865. 

1 '  O  happy  days,  O  months,  O  years, 

Which,  even  in  this  dim  world  of  woe, 
'Tis  now  impossible  can  show 
The  print  of  grief,  the  stain  of  tears  ! 

"  O  blessed  times,  which  now  no  more 
Exposed  to  chance  or  change  remain ; 
Which  having  been,  no  after  stain 
Can  dim  the  brightness  that  ye  wore  !  " 

John  Reginald  Pyndar,  third  Earl  Beauchamp,  married, 
in  1 8 14,  Charlotte,  only  daughter  of  John,  first  Earl  of 
Clonmell.  This  lady  had  a  large  fortune  and  died  child- 
less in  1846.  She  had  expressed  a  wish  that  some  part  of 
her  fortune  should  be  devoted  to  founding  an  almshouse 
for  aged  agricultural  labourers ;  and  her  husband  directed 
in  his  will  (made  in  1847)  that  ^"60,000  should  be  devoted 
to  the  erection  and  endowment  of  almshouses  at  Newland, 
in  the  county  of  Worcester. 

Lord  Beauchamp  died  in  1853,  and  his  wife's  nephew, 
the  Hon.  Charles  Grantham  Scott,  to  whom  he  had 
bequeathed  his  estate  of  Newland,  gave  a  piece  of  land  for 
the   almshouses,  close   to  the   then  existing   old   wooden 


PARISH  OF  NEWLAND.  203 

parish  church,  supposed  to  have  been  built  in  the  time  of 
Edward  III. 

After  six  years'  delay  and  litigation,  an  order  and  a 
scheme,  for  the  management  of  the  charity,  was  in  1859 
issued  by  the  Court  of  Chancery.  It  was  to  be  managed 
by  twelve  trustees,  and  a  private  Act  of  Parliament  was 
obtained,  enabling  them  to  purchase  the  advowson  of  the 
living  of  Newland.  In  186 1  it  became  vacant,  and  was 
offered  by  the  trustees  to  Mr.  Skinner,  together  with  the 
office  of  Wardenship  of  the  projected  almshouses. 

The  parish  was  very  small,  containing  only  thirty-six 
families,  with  four  in  the  hamlet  of  Woodsfield,  and  the 
whole  thing  seemed  to  be  within  his  powers.  He  accepted 
the  charge,  and  in  October,  1861,  took  up  his  abode  at 
Malvern  Link,  for  the  land  on  which  the  almshouses,  the 
new  church,  and  the  Warden's  house  were  to  stand  had 
not  even  been  drained.  His  wife's  journal  notes  on  the 
day  after  their  arrival : 

October  10. — As  soon  after  breakfast  as  possible,  James  and  I 
walked  over  to  our  own  little  parish  of  Newland,  the  scene  of  his 
future  labours,  about  a  mile  from  Somers  Villa,  the  house  we  are 
now  in.  The  country  is  entirely  new  to  me,  and  much  delighted 
I  am  with  it ;  and  on  such  a  brilliant  morning  as  we  fortunately 
have,  the  fine  scenery  looks  to  great  advantage. 

We  first  went  into  the  curious  little  old  church,  built  entirely 
of  wood,  as  old  as  the  fourteenth  century ;  hardly  another  like  it 
in  England.  It  is  to  come  down  when  the  new  one  is  built, 
though  it  seems  rather  sad,  I  think,  to  contemplate  this  necessity. 
We  afterwards  went  to  the  little  village  school,  and  to  one  or  two 
cottages,  with  all  of  which  we  were  much  pleased,  and  the  poor 
people  seem  to  look  forward  with  great  satisfaction  to  having 
a  resident  clergyman  among  them.  I  believe  it  is  forty  years 
since  the  parish  has  had  that  blessing. 


204  ARRIVAL  AT  MALVERN  LINK. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  a  time  of  exceptional  happiness 
and  beauty.  For  the  sake  of  those  who  remember  what 
that  home  at  Newland  became,  it  is  impossible  to  withhold 
the  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  Mrs.  Skinner's  to  her 
mother,  with  its  vivid  account  of  their  first  days  in  the 
neighbourhood  : — 

Somers  Villa,  Malvern  Link,  October  17,  1861. 
.  .  .  We  had  a  comfortable  journey  down  here,  and  found 
everything  ready  for  us.  I  found  a  letter  from  George,  saying 
that  he  would  bring  the  children  on  Friday  or  Saturday  at  latest. 
As  Taylor's  men  said  the  things  would  be  down  the  day  after  us, 
there  was  no  time  to  be  lost  in  finding  some  place  to  receive  them. 
The  only  thing  we  could  do  was  to  rent  three  empty  rooms  in 
a  house  not  far  from  us.  This  done,  we  put  the  matter  from  our 
minds  for  a  bit,  and  the  morning  being  exquisite,  and  the  country 
around  as  lovely  and  magnificent  as  any  I  have  ever  seen,  we 
enjoyed  our  walk  to  Newland,  about  one  mile  from  this  house. 
There  James  showed  me  the  site  of  the  almshouses,  and  where 
our  house  is  to  be,  and  no  words  can  tell  you  how  beautiful  the 
spot  is.  We  went  into  the  little  ancient  church  ;  it  is  in  a  rickety 
state,  but  nicely  arranged,  and  it  seems  sad  that  it  should  come 
down,  which  you  know  is  contemplated  as  soon  as  the  chapel  to 
the  almshouses  is  built,  which  is  also  to  be  the  parish  church. 
We  afterwards  went  to  the  school,  and  to  some  of  the  houses,  and 
then  home  to  the  Link.  As  none  of  our  packages  had  come, 
and  we  had  nothing  to  do,  and  were  too  tired  to  walk  any  more, 
we  took  a  carriage  and  drove  to  Malvern  Wells,  through  the  most 
lovely  scenery ;  calling  on  our  way  on  the  Pembertons,  who  were 
not  at  home.  Next  day,  Friday,  we  began  to  get  anxious  at  the 
non-arrival  of  our  goods.  Towards  the  afternoon,  just  as  it  began 
to  rain  heavily,  some,  but  not  all,  of  our  things  began  to  arrive  ; 
among  others,  several  cases  of  books.  There  was  no  room  to 
bring  them  into  the  house,  so  they  had  to  be  unpacked  at  the 
entrance ;  and  James  and  I  and  the  two  maids  seized  upon  the 
books  and  rushed  into  the  house  with  them  as  fast  as  they  were 


FIRST  SUNDAY  AT  NEWLAND.  205 

unpacked.  Oh,  how  dreadfully  tired  we  were  !  Poor  James  had 
his  sermon  to  prepare  for  the  next  day,  and  many  arrangements  to 
make.  He  looked  so  dreadfully  ill  and  worn  out,  I  quite 
dreaded  his  falling  ill.  To  our  relief,  the  men  came  to  say 
that  the  rest  of  the  vans,  through  some  mismanagement  of  the 
railway  authorities,  had  gone  astray ;  it  was  really  a  relief,  because 
we  felt  we  had  time  to  look  around  us.  So  we  went  to  a  farmer 
in  Newland,  and  asked  if  he  could  help  us  to  stow  away  some  of 
our  common  things ;  he  was  very  good-natured,  and  offered  us 
the  use  of  a  famous  dry  loft,  which  would  hold  an  immense 
quantity.  About  three  o'clock  the  dear  children  arrived  with 
George,  they  were  in  high  spirits  and  very  little  tired ;  both 
James  and  I  were  much  the  reverse.  The  darlings  cheered  us, 
and  we  had  a  much  better  night,  and  got  up  on  Sunday  morning 
refreshed.  It  was  fortunately  a  most  lovely  day ;  we  all  walked 
to  Newland.  The  little  church  was  well  filled,  chiefly  with  poor ; 
and  oh,  what  a  happiness  it  was  to  see  dear  James  in  his  own 
church  again !  I  felt  quite  ashamed  of  the  distress  I  had  lately 
allowed  myself  to  be  in,  when  all  the  signal  blessings  God  had 
given  me  crowded  upon  my  mind  as  I  knelt  in  that  quiet  little 
church ;  and  thought  how  different  all  might  have  been.  They 
seem  all  a  nice  set  of  people — well-behaved,  and  attentive,  and 
simple  minded;  they  all  join  heartily  in  the  service.  There  is 
only  a  little  harmonium  which  leads  some  school  children,  who 
have  remarkably  good  voices.  This  is  the  choir  at  present !  Next 
Sunday  I  am  to  play.  As  the  foundations  of  our  new  house  have 
not  yet  begun  to  be  dug,  we  are  not  likely  to  be  troubled  with 
the  sight  of  our  furniture  again  at  present.  I  am  now  getting 
over  my  fatigues,  and  I  hope  James  will  not  be  the  worse,  though 
since  Sunday  he  has  been  very  unwell.  I  wish  we  were  rather 
nearer  to  our  parish,  though  we  are  lucky  to  be  so  near ;  but  it 
is  hard  work  to  walk  there  and  back,  besides  walking  about  the 
parish,  going  to  the  school,  talking,  etc.,  etc.  I  think  this  fine 
air  will  agree  well  with  all  of  us. 

Alas !   before  another   Sunday  came  round  the  Vicar 


206  PASTORAL  LETTER. 

of  Newland  was  so  ill  as  to  be  unable  to  leave  his  bed.  He 
had  not  had  so  bad  an  attack  for  two  years,  and  the  verdict 
of  the  Malvern  doctor  was,  "  This  is  no  place  for  you  ;  you 
must  quit  it  without  delay,  and  go  to  Madeira  for  the 
winter."  It  was  a  discouraging  beginning  to  his  new  life  ; 
but  serious  as  the  attack  was,  he  rallied  from  it  sooner  than 
he  had  ever  done  in  the  like  case.  Fortunately  there  was 
no  difficulty  about  parish  work  in  the  mean  time,  as  a 
curate  had  already  been  installed,  and  on  November  3 
Mr.  Skinner  preached  for  the  first  time  in  his  little  church, 
and  considered  himself  recovered.  He  lost  no  time  in 
making  himself  acquainted  with  his  parishioners,  and  formed 
many  plans  for  increased  church  services.  His  great  desire 
was  to  increase  the  number  of  Celebrations.  Until  the  last 
few  years  there  had  been  only  three  Celebrations  yearly  at 
Newland,  and  there  had  frequently  been  a  difficulty  in 
getting  the  requisite  number  of  communicants  even  at 
Christmas  and  Easter  ;  in  the  late  incumbent's  time  there 
had  been  a  celebration  every  second  month.  At  Christmas 
Mr.  Skinner  presented  his  parishioners  with  a  "  Newland 
Almanack,"  and  prefixed  to  it  a  pastoral  letter  in  which  he 
says — 

Once  at  least  in  every  month,  and  as  often  as  there  is  a  red 
line  in  this  calendar,  the  Blessed  Sacrament  will  be  offered  to  you 
in  Newland  Church.  I  do  not  wish  any  to  come  to  it  who  are 
not  prepared  to  come,  and  who  do  not  know  Whom  they  receive 
when  they  "  eat  that  bread  and  drink  that  cup."  But  I  am  ready 
to  instruct  and  to  prepare  as  many  as  will  come  to  me  to  be  made 
ready  by  prayer,  or  by  "ghostly^"  or  spiritual  counsel,  or,  if  need 
be,  by  the  "benefit  of  absolution."  In  a  short  time,  if  it  pleases 
God,  we  shall  have  a  new  and  enlarged  parish  church  built  for  us. 
We   shall  then   have  daily  services — twice   a  day  at   the  least. 


INCREASED   CELEBRATIONS.  2.0J 

Nothing  shall  hinder,  but  we  shall  have,  without  stint,  the  full  pro- 
vision which  the  Church  of  England  has  made  for  your  wants  and 
for  the  wants  of  all  her  children.  Surely  it  will  be  a  good  rule  for 
us  to  try  to  give  to  God  our  very  best  offering  in  return  for  His  so 
much  love  to  us.  Meantime,  let  us  train  and  prepare  ourselves  for 
our  new  church  and  for  those  fuller  services — that  great  blessing. 
Just  as  that  blessing,  when  it  comes,  shall. in  turn,  as  I  hope,  train 
and  prepare  us  for  the  enjoyment  of  God,  face  to  face,  in  heaven. 

In  the  pastoral  letter  in  the  almanack  for  1863,  it  is 
noted  that  there  were  twenty-three  Celebrations  in  1862,  as 
against  seven  in  the .  previous  year,  and  before  seven  years 
had  passed  Newland  parish  had  the  blessing  of  a  daily  Cele- 
bration, at  which  worshippers  and  communicants  were 
never  wanting.  And  this  is  noteworthy,  for  it  might  have 
been  thought  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  keep  up  this 
service  in  a  very  small  agricultural  parish.  But,  indeed, 
from  the  first  the  people  seem  to  have  responded  to  the 
instruction  given  to  them. 

One  who  knew  the  parish  at  this  time  writes  : 

I  suppose  the  first  week-day  service  that  St.  Leonard's,  New- 
land,  had  seen  for  many  a  year  was  on  Epiphany,  1862.  The 
vicar  had  full  service  in  the  morning  with  the  Celebration  of  Holy 
Communion.  It  was  considered  quite  an  innovation,  but  there 
was  a  fairly  good  congregation  and  more  communicants  than  the 
last  Sunday  celebration.  During  Holy  Week  this  year  the  daily 
services,  both  morning  and  evening,  for  an  agricultural  parish,  were 
well  attended,  and  on  Good  Friday  and  Easter  Day  the  little 
church  was  crowded,  while  on  Christmas  Day,  1863,  it  was  so  full 
that  there  was  hardly  standing  room.  There  were  two  Celebrations 
and  an  increase  of  fifty  communicants.  The  Bishop  of  Worcester 
had  held  a  confirmation  in  this  little  church  the  previous  October, 
for  thirty-six  candidates,  amongst  whom  was  the  vicar's  only  child, 
Agnes.     The  foundation  stone  of  the  new  church  and  almshouses 


208  LETTER  FROM  OXFORD. 

was  laid  on  April  23,  1862,  by  the  Dowager  Countess  Beauchamp, 
widow  (by  a  second  marriage)  of  the  Founder,  and  the  ground  lying 
between  the  old  church  and  that  given  for  the  almshouses  was 
consecrated  as  a  burial-ground  for  Newland  parish.  It  had  never 
possessed  one  before,  the  Capella  de  Newla?id^  as  it  is  called  in 
old  deeds,  having  been  served  by  the  monks  of  Malvern  Abbey 
to  which  it  was  attached. 

The  following  letter  from  the  Vicar  of  Newland  to  his 
wife,  who  was  absent  from  home,  gives  a  bright  glimpse  of 
home  life,  and  an  account  of  the  first  Church  Congress  : — 

Malvern  Link,  July  12,  1862. 

.  .  .  Here  I  am,  safe  and  sound  again,  among  our  pets — safe 
and  sound  also,  praised  be  God.  I  found  them  charmingly  well, 
and  so  glad  to  get  me  back.  Aggie  talking  of  nothing  but  her 
prospect  of  breakfasting  with  me  next  morning,  and  the  pleasure 
of  making  my  mess.  Insomuch  that  I  proposed  that  I  should 
save  her  a  bad  night  of  exciting  expectation,  and  have  my  break- 
fast then  and  there  on  the  spot.  Maggie  was  in  all  the  dignity  of 
landladyhood,  bursting  with  importance,  mingled  with  a  tinge  of 
misgiving,  lest  I  should  not  like  the  minced  beef.  She  felt  it  her 
duty  to  go  out  and  in ;  and  ring  the  bell ;  and  give  orders  ;  and 
countermand  the  orders  when  given ;  and  ask  about  tea  before 
dinner  was  over ;  and  "  How  about  hot  water  ?  "  and  "  Now,  take 
your  hot  water,  uncle,  before  it  gets  cold ; "  and  "  When  shall  we 
have  prayers  ?  "  and  "  Now  ring  the  bell  and  begin,"  and  so  on. 
This  morning,  long  before  half-past  eight,  I  was  disturbed  at  my 
toilet  by  the  housekeeper's  knock.  "  Are  you  ready  for  prayers, 
uncle  ? "  "  Yes,  dear,  when  the  time  for  prayers  has  arrived  I 
shall  be  ready."  ,(Oh!"  And  then  off  I  heard  her  little  feet 
scamper  to  the  Petfordian  domain  in  the  basement,  her  heart 
bursting  with  the  dinner  for  to-day  ! 

Aggie — kept  awake  half  the  night  with  wishing  for  breakfast 
time  to  come — was  in  her  place,  presiding  over  the  teapot  and  the 
cosy,  instantly  after  prayers,  and  very  full  of  delight  to  her  was  that 


FIRST  CHURCH  CONGRESS.  209 

steaming  urn  and  little  crockery  teapot.  But  my  mess,  on  which 
she  had  greatly  reckoned  as  an  exercise  of  skill  and  affection, 
could  not  be  made ;  so  I  dispensed  with  it,  and  gave  the  surplus 
of  the  cream  to  Aggie  herself,  which  greatly  contributed  to  recon- 
cile her  to  the  disappointment.  Poor  dear  Mary  looks  sweet  as 
sugar,  and  says,  "  Oh  how  I  should  like  to  breakfast  with  uncle, 
but  Miss  Levien  does  not  like  it,  and  so  I  suppose  I  shall  not." 

They  are  dear  good  little  pets,  and  seem  so  anxious  to  be 
pleasant  company  to  me. 

Now  I  hear  you  saying,  "  Why  have  you  never  told  me  any- 
thing of  your  proceedings  at  Oxford  ?  "     So,  then,  here  goes. 

.  .  .  Immediately  on  arrival,  I  had  luncheon  in  the  common 
room,  where  a  pleasant  party  were  assembled,  and  then  off  with  a 
brother  of  Walton's  to  the  theatre.  There  I  saw  hosts  of  friends, 
almost  everybody  I  had  ever  seen  or  known  for  twenty  years  past, 
and  most  delightful  it  was  to  greet  the  old  familiar  faces.  This 
really  was  the  charm  of  the  gathering.  I  need  not  say  what  the 
papers  were,  for  you  may  read  that  in  the  public  accounts.  But 
this  I  will  say,  that  I  did  my  part  uncommonly  well,  and  I  believe 
it  was  one  of  the  most  difficult  to  do  ;  I  listened  to  the  wise  and 
the  foolish  with  equal  perseverance  to  the  end.  Ellicott  read  his 
paper  in  the  morning,  before  I  arrived,  and  he  had  left  Oxford 
before  I  could  get  near  him.  Some  good  Cambridge  men 
spoke — the  best,  by  far,  Harold  Browne ;  Howson  also  dis- 
tinguished himself.  The  tone  of  the  Cambridge  men  did  not 
make  them  shine  at  Oxford,  I  am  afraid.  There  was  a  hard- 
headed  utility  in  their  views,  but  a  want,  for  the  most  part,  of 
the  more  delicate  shades  of  feeling  which  indicate  a  deep  and 
thoughtful  philosophy  in  things  ecclesiastical.  I  should  except 
George  Williams.  ...  I  was  much  struck  with  the  contrast  which 
Carter  and  Pusey  and  Massingberd  and  others  presented  in  all 
this.  We  had  some  very  delicate  and  difficult  subjects — "  Sister- 
hoods," for  instance — which  brought  all  this  out.  But  there  was 
a  marvellous  spirit  of  harmony  and  unity  and  love  pervading  the 
whole  Congress,  for  which  we  cannot  be  too  thankful ;  and  if  we 
owe  it  to  anything  under  God's  Spirit,  we  owe  it  to  the  skill  and 

P 


210  OXFORD    CHURCH  CONGRESS. 

tact  and  amazing  judgment  with  which  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  con- 
ducted the  proceedings.  At  one  of  the  evening  meetings,  Mey- 
rick  read  a  paper  on  our  relations  to  the  Continental  Churches. 
I  had  sent  in  my  name  to  speak  upon  it ;  but  long  before  it  came 
to  my  turn,  the  temper  of  the  meeting  had  waxed  so  warm  that  I 
foresaw  a  great  row.  The  Bishop,  with  most  consummate  skill, 
shifted  the  scene,  and  passed  to  another  subject  which  was  a 
much  less  exciting  one.  Next  morning  he  said  to  me,  "  I  hope 
you  were  not  offended  that  I  did  not  call  on  you  to  speak  last 
night"  "No,  my  lord,  not  a  bit;  I  saw  what  was  brewing, 
and  I  think  you  did  most  wisely  to  pass  on  to  another  subject." 
"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  in  that  electric  condition  of  the  atmosphere,  it 
was  not  safe  to  invite  a  storm,  so  I  omitted  to  call  on  you  or  on 
any  one  to  say  anything." 

...  I  will  just  add,  particularly,  the  order  of  my  day,  and 
you  will  be  amazed  at  the  extent  of  the  grind. 

Tuesday.     Arrived  at  i  p.m. 

Theatre  from  2  to  5.15,  without  intermission. 

5.30  to  6.30.  Evensong  (choral)  in  Merton  Chapel,  a  glorious 
Gregorian  service. 

6.30  to  8.  Dinner  and  dessert  in  Merton  Hall.  Here  Mild- 
may,  Lawrell,  Beresford  Hope,  and  lots  of  friends,  most  jolly. 

I  was  so  knocked  up  that  I  could  not  go  to  the  "evening"  in 
the  townhall ;  so  at  9  o'clock  I  went  to  my  rooms. 

Wednesday.  Called  and  up  at  6.15.  At  7.15  down,  and  in 
the  vestry  of  the  chapel,  which  is  also  the  parish  church  of  St. 
John  Baptist  in  Oxford,  and  where  all  the  services  for  the  Con- 
gress were  appointed  to  be  held.  Had  been  invited  to  assist  in 
the  Celebrations.  These  services  were  all  special,  and  there  was 
no  regular  staff  of  clergy  to  assist  the  incumbent  of  the  church, 
who  is  a  Mr.  Serjeant,  a  cousin  of  the  Bishop  of  Oxford's,  and  a 
Fellow  of  Merton.  It  was  hardish  work  for  me,  and  perhaps  I 
ought  to  have  declined,  but  I  could  not  resist  such  a  privilege. 
Well,  at  7.30,  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  and  the  Bishop  of  Tasmania, 
myself,  and  Serjeant  took  our  places  at  the  altar — Tasmania  cele- 
brant ;  I  gospeller;  Serjeant  epistoller;  and  the  Holy  Communion 


OXFORD   CHURCH  CONGRESS.  2 1 1 

was  administered  to  the  great  body  of  the  Congress  in  Oxford. 
After  the  blessing  we  immediately  went  to  matins,  the  Bishops 
remaining  in  their  places,  Serjeant  and  I  taking  it  between  us. 

At  9.30,  breakfast. 

At  10.30  to  the  theatre.     Papers  and  discussion  till  1.15. 

1. 15  to  2.     Luncheon  in  Merton  Hall. 

2.30  to  5.15.     Theatre  again.     Papers  and  discussion. 

5.30  to  6.30.     Chapel  at  Merton  (full  choral). 

6.30  to  8.  Dinner  in  Merton  Hall,  a  large  and  most  pleasant 
party.  Swinny  of  Cuddesdon,  Butterfield  the  architect,  and  the 
rest — more  than  twenty  in  number. 

8  to  10.     Meeting  in  townhall. 

Thursday.  Up  at  6.15  again.  In  vestry  by  7.15  :  prepared 
for  a  grand  choral  celebration.  Bishop  of  Oxford  on  throne ; 
Bishop  of  Tasmania  next  him  ;  Lowder  as  a  fourth  priest ;  Ser- 
jeant celebrant;  Lawrell  gospeller;  myself  epistoller  and  as- 
sistant. Most  magnificent  service  ;  nearly  four  hundred  commu- 
nicants, including  Bishops  of  Capetown  and  Honolulu,  besides 
Oxford  and  Tasmania.  After  this  I  was  too  tired  for  matins  and 
went  to  breakfast. 

10.30  to  1. 1 5.     At  the  theatre.     Papers  and  discussions. 

1. 1 5.  To  Balliol  College.  Luncheon  the  first  with  Furse, 
and  Jenny,  his  dear  little  wife.  Obliged  to  hurry  off  to  All  Souls' 
College  to  answer  an  invitation  from  the  warden  of  that  college, 
who  has  taken  a  leading  part  in  the  Congress,  to  have  my  portrait 
taken,  in  a  group  of  the  members,  by  a  photographic  artist,  and 
to  lunch,  the  second  time,  with  them  afterwards.  Here  I  met  the 
Bishop  of  Capetown  and  chatted  with  him  of  old  days  ;  the  late 
Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland  and  M.P.  for  University  of  Dublin, 
Joseph  Napier,  whom  I  met  at  Innspruck  two  summers  ago,  and 
took  for  a  self-appointed  parish  clerk  to  me,  when  I  read  the 
prayers  on  Sunday  in  the  hotel ;  Sir  Charles  Anderson,  whom  you 
remember  meeting  at  Burton  Agnes  ;  and  many  others.  At  1.30 
we  formed  ourselves  in  a  group  :  the  four  Bishops  in  the  centre ; 
the  taller  men  behind  and  the  smaller  in  front.  I  have  the  satis- 
faction of  being  taken  standing  next  to  dear  T.  Carter  of  Clewer. 


212  DEATH  OF  MRS.   RAYMOND. 

It  will  be  an  interesting  group.  After  this  operation,  which  was 
long  and  tedious,  but  which  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  and  Archdeacon 
Denison  contrived  to  lighten  by  their  jokes  and  good-humoured 
chaff,  we  went  to  luncheon  in  the  Warden  of  All  Souls'  house. 
There  I  met  Mr.  Cust,  now  the  Vicar  of  St.  Mary's,  Reading,  who 
re-introduced  himself  to  me,  as  having  met  you  and  me  at  Hunts- 
moor.  Do  you  remember  singing  with  him  and  Lady  Emma  his 
wife? 

Then  back  again  to  the  theatre  till  nearly  6.      Then  to  chapel 
at  Merton.     Then  I  went  to  All  Souls'  Hall,  to  dine  with  F.  L. 
Very  pleasant,  but  the  ale  of  tremendous  power,  quite  beyond  me. 
At  9  off  again  to  the  townhall,  where  Bishop  of  Tasmania  on 
Synods.     Capetown  very  interesting,  so  also  Joseph  Napier.     Met 
Richards  of  Farlington,  Finlay  and  his  wife,  and  hosts  of  others. 
Got  home  to  bed  a  little  before  12,  going  en  route  to  revisit  New- 
man's old  rooms  at  Oriel,  which  a  friend  of  mine  was  inhabiting. 
Friday.    Up  7.30.   Breakfast  9,  in  Merton.   Men  all  going  down. 
10.30  to  St.  Mary's.     Litany,  and  a  magnificent  sermon  from 
S.  O.  on  African  Missions  and  dear  Bishop  Mackenzie.      Then 
to  meeting  on  that  Mission's  affairs  in  theatre  :  painful  discus- 
sion upon  the  fighting  with  the  natives.     "  Was  it  right  ?  "     Most 
terribly  painful.     Pusey  spoke  condemning  it ;  so  Selwyn,  also 
from  Cambridge.     I  agree  with  them,  but  deprecated  the  discus- 
sion at  such  a  moment.    Capetown  spoke  most  deliriously.    I  could 
tell  you  volumes  of  intensely  interesting  matter  on  this  head,  but  I 
can  no  more.     Did  not  leave  theatre  till  2.45  ;  snatched  a  sand- 
wich and  a  glass  of  beer  with  Mildmay  in  the  buttery  of  Merton, 
and  then  off  to  catch  3.25  train. 

Found  two  old  friends  in  the  carriage,  one  of  whom  (a  Fellow 
of  Trinity,  Oxford)  not  seen  for  twenty  years !  and  so  home  to 
Malvern. 

Praised  be  God  for  all  His  mercy. 

He  writes  in  June,  1863,  of  the  death  of  Mrs.  Oliver 
Raymond,  his  wife's  mother,  who  had  ever  been  a  loving 
mother  to  him. 


THE    WARDEN'S  LODGE.  21 3 

.  .  .  She  who  "  bore  children  and  guided  the  house,  and  gave 
none  occasion  to  the  adversary  to  speak  reproachfully" — the  mother 
of  all  who  came  within  her  care,  has  gone  to  her  rest.  She  died 
about  the  rising  of  the  sun  last  Monday,  the  first  of  the  summer 
days,  and  on  Friday  her  body  was  laid  in  the  grave  in  the  face 
of  many  to  whom,  all  her  life,  God  had  given  her  for  a  light.  Day 
by  day,  from  her  death,  the  prayers  which  she  so  loved  went  on  in 
the  parish  church,  and  her  husband  and  children  found  in  them 
their  best  consolation.  Her  hands  were  crossed  upon  her  breast 
in  death ;  and  indeed  it  was  the  cross  which  most  she  strove  in 
life  to  take  up,  and  to  cling  to  as  all  her  hope.  At  her  burial  at 
Middleton  the  "  mourners  "  were  themselves  the  choir,  and  they 
prayed  and  sang  with  earnest  tongues,  and  with  a  good  courage  all 
their  own.  It  is  good  to  think  of  her,  whom  we  so  loved,  at  rest. 
Formed  by  the  grace  of  God  in  the  school  of  Christ,  she  learned 
all  she  knew  from  Him  by  whom  she  was  called  silently  and 
unostentatiously  to  teach  others.  There  are  now  alive  many  holy 
and  useful  men  and  women,  who  trace,  under  God,  all  the  good 
that  is  in  them  to  her  sweet  life.  It  is  something  to  have  had  to 
do  with  the  training  of  two  brothers  and  three  sons  for  dedication 
to  God  in  the  holy  office  of  the  priesthood.  What  they  owe  to 
her  God  will  repay. 

The  house  for  the  Warden  was  the  first  part  completed 
of  the  buildings  at  Newland,  and  in  November,  1863,  he  and 
his  family  took  possession  of  their  new  abode.  Amongst 
his  papers  were  found  the  prayers,  written  in  pencil,  used 
on  this  day  at  family  prayer : — 

We  yield  Thee  hearty  thanks,  O  Lord  our  God,  for  Thy  great 
goodness  in  mercifully  ordering  our  way  to  this  our  present  earthly 
dwelling-place,  and  for  all  Thy  gracious  providence  in  leading  us 
into  it,  and  settling  us  in  the  same  in  peace  and  quietness.  Send 
Thy  Holy  Spirit  to  go  before  us,  and  with  us,  and  after  us,  in  all 
our  going  in  and  coming  out  of  this  house.  Mercifully  assist  us 
who  put  our  trust  in  Thee  in  every  duty  each  one  of  us  has  to  do 


214  CONSECRATION  OF  CHURCH. 

in  this  place ;  and  vouchsafe  to  be  our  Companion  every  day, 
from  morning  to  night  and  night  to  morning ;  that  we  may  love 
Thy  presence  and  walk  in  it  vigilantly,  and  being  delivered  from 
all  errors  and  adversities,  may  joyfully  serve  Thee  in  all  godly 
quietness ;  and  grant  us  Thy  peace  all  the  days  of  our  life,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 

Grant,  O  Lord,  we  beseech  Thee,  to  all  Thy  servants  who  live 
in  this  house,  the  spirit  of  mutual  love  and  duty  one  to  the  other, 
and  above  all  of  grateful  obedience  to  Thee  :  give  us  comfort  and 
support  under  all  circumstances  of  our  life,  and  Thy  merciful 
guidance  unto  the  end,  that  living  in  all  holy  and  godly  conver- 
sation, we  may  be  afflicted  by  no  adversity,  and  may  finally  attain 
to  the  perpetual  enjoyment  of  Thy  loving  mercy,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 

The  new  Church  of  St.  Leonard  and  the  almshouses 
were  not  completed  until  the  following  year,  1864.  On 
Sunday,  July  17,  the  last  services  were  held  in  the  old 
oaken  church,  the  spiritual  home  of  many  generations. 
One  who  was  present  wrote  at  the  time  : 

"  The  last  Sunday  in  the  dear  little  old  church  !  Enormous 
congregations  both  morning  and  evening.  Not  a  third  part  could 
find  room  inside  ;  so  as  the  weather  was  dry  and  zery  hot,  the 
windows  were  taken  out  on  the  north  side,  and  a  great  number  of 
people  joined  in  the  service,  sitting,  standing,  and  kneeling  on  the 
grass. 

On  the  next  Thursday,  July  21,  the  new  church  was 
consecrated,  and  the  almshouses  were  dedicated,  by  the 
Bishop  of  Worcester.  He  was  met  at  the  great  gate  by  a 
procession  including  about  sixty  clergy,  and  all  walked 
round  the  east  and  south  sides  of  the  quadrangle,  chanting 
Psalms  ciii.  and  Ixxii.  Then,  halting  opposite  to  the  great 
gate,  the  Bishop  prayed  : 


ALMSHOUSES  DEDICATED.  21  5 

O  God,  from  Whom  all  good  gifts  do  come,  we  heartily  thank 
Thee  that  Thou  didst  put  into  the  heart  of  Thy  servant  John 
Reginald,  sometime  Lord  Beauchamp,  to  found  and  of  his 
charity  to  endow  for  ever  these  almshouses  to  the  honour  of  Thy 
name  and  the  comfort  of  Thy  poor  ;  grant,  we  beseech  Thee, 
that  they  who  shall  here  profit  by  this  Thy  bounty  may  truly  and 
godly  serve  Thee  for  ever  and  ever ;  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.     Amen. 

The  procession  then  moved  round  the  west  and  north 
sides  of  the  quadrangle,  still  chanting,  and,  returning  to 
the  great  gate,  after  Veni  Cireator  had  been  sung  the 
Bishop  pronounced  that — 

Forasmuch  as  it  hath  pleased  Almighty  God  to  allow  this 
charitable  work,  and  to  accept  these  almshouses  for  the  comfort 
of  His  poor,  we  hereby  pronounce  this  house  of  prayer  and  of 
alms  to  have  been  in  all  things  duly  completed,  and  we  declare 
the  same  to  be  for  ever  open :  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Amen. 

The  consecration  of  the  church  then  took  place.  Thus 
this  beautiful  work  was  begun,  a  gift  from  Ireland  to 
England.  For  it  was  but  the  fulfilment  of  the  pious  thought 
of  a  noble  Irish  lady,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  fortune 
which  she  possessed  had  been  devoted  to  this  charity. 

There  is  nothing  lovelier  or  more  perfect  of  its  kind  in 
England  ;  it  seems,  as  the  late  Bishop  Forbes  said,  "  like 
a  bit  of  the  Middle  Ages  let  down  amongst  us."  A  traveller 
on  the  road  through  the  village  common  of  Newland  might 
pass  the  almhouses  without  observing  more  than  clustered 
chimneys  rising  behind  a  belt  of  trees,  and  a  handsome 
gateway,  but  within  the  deep-arched  portal  there  is  what 
almost  seems  an  enchanted  scene,  a  very  paradise  of  peaceful 
and  holy  delight.     The  whole  place  has  already  a  look  of 


2l6  THE   QUADRANGLE. 

age,  partly  from  the  luxuriant  flowering  creepers  with  which 
the  buildings  are  covered,  partly  from  the  ancient  elms 
which  shade  the  smooth  turf  of  the  quadrangle,  surrounded 
by  a  broad  gravel  terrace  walk.  The  east  side  is  formed 
by  the  church  and  the  Warden's  house,  connected  by  a 
cloister,  the  south  and  west  sides  by  the  almhouses,  while 
the  north  is  left  open  to  the  view  of  the  Malvern  Hills. 
There  is  an  entrance  to  the  church  by  the  south  porch 
through  the  cloister  for  dwellers  in  the  quadrangle,  while 
the  north  porch  opens  on  the  village  common.  In  the 
buildings  there  are  rooms  for  twenty-four  or  more  alms- 
people,  married  or  single,  who  are  received  from  any 
county  in  England,  and  have  an  apartment  of  three  rooms 
assigned  to  each,  with  a  pension  varying  from  seven  and 
sixpence  to  twelve  shillings  a  week  and  allowances  of  gas 
and  fuel.  The  trustees  of  the  charity  were  also  ordered 
by  the  Court  of  Chancery  to  "establish  and  maintain  a 
school  of  industry  for  ten  or  more  children,"  to  "  reside  on 
the  premises,  and  be  boarded  and  clothed  free  of  charge," 
to  "  assist  as  choristers  in  the  celebration  of  divine  service 
in  Newland  Church,  as  the  Warden  should  from  time 
to  time  direct."  None  were  elected  who  had  not  really 
good  voices  ;  thus  an  excellent  choir  was  insured  for  the 
church. 

Here,  in  this  home  of  devotion  and  charity,  a  season  of 
such  happiness  and  beautiful  brightness  was  granted  to 
the  Warden  and  his  household  as  is  seldom  the  lot  of  God's 
servants  on  earth.  His  aged  stepmother,  accompanied  by 
his  only  sister,  had,  at  eighty-three,  left  her  Aberdeen 
home  to  settle  near  her  beloved  son.  No  warmer  love  ever 
existed  between  a  mother  and  son  than  between  these  two  ; 


SUNDA Y  AT  NE WLAND.  2 1 7 

and  until  her  death,  nine  years  later,  it  was  one  of  the  chief 
objects  of  his  life  to  add  to  her  happiness  and  comfort. 
The  orphan  children  of  a  brother  of  Mr.  Skinner  also  lived 
at  Malvern  Link,  to  be  under  his  wing,  and  his  beloved 
brother  George,  with  his  two  girls,  still  made  part  of  his 
own  household,  so  that  the  quadrangle  and  the  Warden's 
Lodge  were  full  of  the  sound  of  merry  young  laughter, 
and  the  voice  of  joy  and  health  was  in  the  house. 

The  services,  the  beauty  of  the  church  and  place,  and, 
perhaps  more  than  all,  the  preaching  attracted  many  besides 
parishioners,  and  on  Sundays  the  church  was  always 
crowded  ;  during  the  summer  it  often  happened  that 
numbers  were  unable  even  to  get  into  the  porch.  The 
seats  were  all  free  ;  but,  to  prevent  parishioners  from  being 
crowded  out  by  visitors,  none  but  parishioners  were  allowed 
to  take  seats  until  the  bell  had  ceased  ringing.  Then  what 
a  rush  there  used  to  be  for  seats  !  There  certainly  was 
no  room  left  for  any  "  aggrieved "  one  who  might  loiter 
in  during  the  exhortation. 

The  old  wooden  church  was  taken  down  in  1865,  when 
the  vicar  writes  to  his  parishioners  : 

You  will  not  be  sorry  to  look  upon  the  dear  old  church  at 
the  top  of  the  Newland  Almanack  once  again.  Sadly  forlorn 
and  deserted  it  looks  beside  its  new  and  more  ambitious  sister. 
But  it  will  not  be  easy  to  rob  you  of  your  love  and  reverence  for 
those  old  oaken  timbers  which  have  borne  the  sanctuary  of  God 
in  this  parish  for  so  many  centuries.  It  will  be  good  for  you  that 
such  love  and  reverence  should  never  die.  It  will  be  good  for  your 
children  and  for  your  children's  children  to  know  and  to  remember 
what  that  little  church  has  been  to  the  Newland  people  for  five 
hundred  years  of  England's  most  stirring  history ;  for,  indeed,  the 
new  church  itself  is  nothing  to  us  unless  it  be  the  continuing  of 


2l8  CHURCHYARD   CROSS. 

the  old.  Bearing  the  same  dedication  to  God  and  S.  Leonard, 
deacon  and  confessor,  our  new  church  appeals  to  the  same 
traditions  handed  down  from  the  first  days  of  Christianity  in 
England  to  our  fathers  and  their  children,  and  onward  to  us ;  or 
else  it  appeals  to  nothing  which  we  can  regard. 

But  the  remembrance  of  the  little  ancient  church  is  not  likely 
to  die  out.  A  portion  of  it  is  now  being  restored  to  serve  as  a 
"  lych-house,"  or  sacred  chamber,  in  which  the  bodies  of  our 
departed  pensioners  may  rest  in  stillness  and  safety,  between  the 
hours  of  death  and  burial.  This  will  enable  us  to  secure  greater 
reverence  towards  the  remains  of  the  dead,  and  more  security  for 
the  health  of  the  living,  than  is  often  possible  in  the  small,  and 
sometimes  crowded,  rooms  of  cottages. 

The  lych-house  has  been  built,  opening  from  the 
cloister.  Besides  this  memorial,  a  lofty  stone  cross  covers 
the  exact  site  of  the  altar  of  the  old  church,  bearing  the 
inscription  : 


+  Deo  4  Optimo  4  Maximo  4 

-f-  Salvatori  +  nostro  4 

-f  qui  +  proposito  4  sibi  4  gaudio  4 

4-  sustinuit  4  crucem  4 

© 

+  Sacram  +  in  4  memoriam  4 

+  Sancti  4  Leonardi  -j-  apud  +  Newland  +  Sacelli  4 

+  jam  -}-  inde  +  seculo  4  a  4  decimo  +  quarto  4  stantis  4 

+  nuper  4  demoliti  4 

4-  cujus  4  super  +  altari  4  hie  4  posito  4 

4  Sacra  4  sanctissima  4-  mysteria  4- 

4  sacerdotes  +  de  4  Newland  4 

4-  quinque  4  per  4  secula  4  exequebantur 

4  quorum  4  supremus  4  et  +  minimus  4 


FIRST  DAYS  AT  NEWLAND.  2 1 9 


+  hanc  -f-  crucem  + 

+  e  +  beneficientia  +  fidelium  + 

+  dicavit  -f 

+  A  +  D  +  MDCCCLXVI  + 

4-  Quam  4-  toto  4-  penitus  4-  dilectam  4-  corde  4-  fovebam  x 

4-  Defuncto  4-  est  4-  eadem  4* 

crux  4-  mihi  4-  sola  4-  salus 

It  is  hard  not  to  linger  too  long  on  halcyon  days,  for- 
getting that  they  cannot  have  the  same  charm  for  others 
as  for  those  who  shared  in  them.  The  vision  of  that  lovely 
and  peaceful  quadrangle,  with  the  blue-cloaked  pensioners 
slowly  wending  their  way  to  daily  prayer,  and  the  tall  form 
of  their  Warden  passing  through  the  cloister,  is  one  that 
can  never  fade  from  the  hearts  of  those  who  for  a  time 
dwelt  there. 

The  following  letter  is  written  by  one  who  lived  there 
for  many  years  : — 

Those  early  days  at  Newland — what  a  charm  they  had  !  The 
whole  scene  comes  back  to  me,  after  long  years,  like  some  tender 
vision  of  loveliness  seen  in  the  glow  of  morning.  Alas !  the 
"  light  of  setting  suns  "  seems  on  it  now. 

The  "  college,"  with  its  picturesque  little  archways,  its  charm- 
ing church  and  house,  its  smooth  grass  and  stately  elms,  made  a 
most  characteristic  framework  to  a  picture  that  hardly  seemed  to 
belong  to  the  hard  realities  of  these  times. 

There,  on  a  sunny  day,  the  old  pensioners  in  their  blue  gowns 
sauntered  to  and  fro,  the  bright  girls  from   the  Warden's  home 


220  THE    WARDEN'S  HOME. 

flitting  by  ;  the  Warden  himself  strolling  out  with  a  kind  greeting, 
and  a  word  to  one  and  another  that  left  a  smile  of  pleasure 
behind  it.  His  wife,  whose  fairylike  swiftness  as  she  came  and 
went  often  made  us  laugh,  was  now  beside  him,  now  in  one  of 
the  houses,  now  out  again,  then  vanishing  among  her  flowers. 
Pleasant  voices,  eager  helpfulness,  gentle  ministration,  there  were 
everywhere. 

I  think  I  can  see  the  Warden  still,  as  he  used  to  be  in  those 
dear  old  days — tall  and  with  a  singular  dignity  of  bearing,  already 
grey  in  hair  and  beard,  pale  and  worn  as  one  who  had  indeed 
borne  "  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day,"  but  with  a  face  full  of 
brightness  and  beautiful  with  intellectual  power.  His  dark-brown 
eyes  seemed  to  reflect  every  change  of  mood  and  thought,  flashing 
with  chivalrous  enthusiasm  as  he  defended  the  good  old  cause, 
or  melting  into  tenderest  sympathy  at  some  pathetic  tale.  As  he 
went  about  the  quadrangle  in  his  cassock  and  cap,  or  stood  gently 
looking  down  (he  almost  always  had  to  look  down)  at  some  eager 
speaker,  I  used  to  fancy  him  like  those  figures  who  flit  through 
the  pages  of  history  in  the  days  of  strife  between  Puritans  and 
Cavaliers. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  there  was  ever  a  special  grace  and 
fitness  in  all  his  surroundings.  The  pretty  house,  with  its 
essential  refinement,  and  artistic  memorials  of  wanderings  in  many 
lands  ;  the  graceful  little  mistress  of  it,  with  her  unfailing  deftness, 
readiness,  and  tact ;  the  daughter,  with  her  refined  loveliness  and 
almost  startling  beauty  of  mind  and  character ;  her  sweet  sister- 
friends,  scarcely  less  the  Warden's  children  than  herself; — the  whole 
charm  of  that  unique  home  was  just  right,  just  what  it  should  have 
been  for  him. 

Of  course,  one  so  well  known  and  beloved  had  many 
outside  his  parish  to  claim  his  assistance  and  care.  One  of 
the  features  of  that  Newland  life  was  the  constant  coming  of 
friends  from  wider  circles,  bringing  the  stir  of  the  world  into  that 
calm  retreat.  Mr.  Skinner  was  not  a  clergyman  who  could  be 
actually  "buried  in  the  country."  How  they  used  to  come,  those 
many  friends !     Eager,  cordial,  rejoicing,  or  sad  and  cast  down 


BYGONE  DAYS.  221 

and  sorely  in  need  of  comfort,  it  mattered  not — there  was  room 
in  that  large  sympathy  for  all.  Clergy  of  his  own  school,  with  their 
many  tales  and  hearty  merriment  over  bygone  misapprehensions 
and  worries  ;  eager  young  men,  full  of  hopes,  schemes,  and  fancies  ; 
friends  fresh  from  the  busy  stir  and  interests  of  London  society ; 
weary  toilers  \  laden  souls  full  of  doubts  and  fears — all  these  came, 
and  many  more.  Sometimes  claims  made  upon  his  time  were 
somewhat  inconsiderate,  and  those  who  enjoyed  his  sympathy 
were  apt  to  forget  that  he  had  many  poor  people,  and  many  ser- 
mons, and  a  great  many  books  to  occupy  him.  But  his  wife  was 
always  at  hand — always  understanding  every  change  of  look,  every 
glance  or  sigh.  Her  unfailing  tact  often  came  to  his  aid,  and 
secured  for  him  a  little  quiet  and  rest.  Their  union  was  indeed  a 
perfect  one — perfect  in  those  bright  days  ;  perfect  in  that  day  of 
sorrow  when  they  went  out  hand-in-hand  from  the  room  where  they 
had  taken  their  last  look  at  the  fair,  still  face,  dearest  to  them  on 
earth — went  out  broken-hearted,  but  brave,  to  comfort  each  other 
and  serve  God  in  the  world  till  eventide.  May  I  not  say,  perfect 
still  ?  for  surely  death  must  be  too  weak  to  change  the  union  of 
two  such  souls  ? 

Dear  Newland  !  Dear  old  days  !  Looking  back  upon  their 
sweetness,  I  see  more  and  more  that  the  spell,  the  charm  of  all 
that  formed  their  bright  happiness,  was  contained  in  that  one  word 
— Love  ! 

He  whom  we  have  lost  for  a  little  was  the  centre  of  all  that 
happiness,  and  his  power  came  from  the  strength  of  love  which 
he  possessed.  The  visible  beloved  and  lovely  around  him,  how 
unspeakably  he  loved  them  !  But  more,  far  more,  the  love  of  the 
Altogether  Lovely  shone  through  his  life,  and  gave  power  to  his 
beautiful  words.  He  loved  that  Divine  Master  to  whom  his 
whole  being  was  consecrated  with  a  sensible  intensity  of  which  I 
feel  I  have  no  right  to  speak.  Only  we  cannot  forget  the  thrill  of 
overpowering  emotion  in  his  sermons,  the  faltering  voice  with 
which  the  history  of  the  Passion  used  to  come  from  him. 

It  is  impossible  to  put  the  sweetness  of  those  bygone  days 
into  words,  but  those  who  remember  will  ever  cherish  them,  and 


222  PAST  AND   FUTURE. 

thank  God  and  take  courage  that  such  a  life  was  still  possible  in 
these  darker  days.  They  will  dwell  on  the  recollection  until  our 
little  pasts  are  swallowed  up  in  the  great  future — until  the  most 
perfect  earthly  beauty  and  happiness  are  more  than  fulfilled  in  the 
unspeakable  and  eternal  joy  which  it  hath  not  entered  into  the 
heart  of  men  to  conceive. 

There  are  some  lines  from  the  "  Lyra  Innocentium  " 
written  out  in  pencil  by  Mr.  Skinner,  apparently  at  the 
same  time  that  he  wrote  a  prayer  for  a  blessing  on  the  new 
home  : — 

"  A  holy  household  ;  yet  beware  ! 

Even  here  may  lurk  a  snare. 

These  home  delights,  so  keen  and  pure, 

May  not  for  aye  endure. 

Ere  long,  perchance,  a  sterner  sound 

Will  summon  :  where  wilt  thou  be  found  ? 

Even  holy  homes  may  hearts  beguile, 

And  mar  God's  work  awhile  ! " 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SPIRITUAL   WORK  AT   NEWLAND. 
1863-1866. 

"  But  first,  and  chiefest,  with  thee  bring 
Him,  that  soars  on  golden  wing, 
Guiding  the  fiery-wheeled  throne, 
The  cherub,  Contemplation." 

From  this  time  Newland  became  a  centre  of  vigorous 
Church  life  and  religious  teaching ;  young  clergymen  often 
came  there  for  a  time  as  curates,  to  learn  and  to  read  before 
undertaking  larger  work,  and  the  help  which  they  received 
was  perhaps  one  of  the  chief  ways  in  which  the  Vicar  of 
Newland,  himself  unable  to  undertake  hard  mission  work, 
was  of  use  to  the  Church. 

"  Wouldst  thou  go  forth  to  bless,  be  sure  of  thine  own  ground  ; 
Fix  well  thy  centre  first,  then  draw  thy  circles  round," 

has  been  well  said,  and  it  is  a  truth  about  which  Mr.  Skinner 
felt  very  strongly,  believing  that  work,  during  the  first  year 
or  two  of  priesthood,  which  gave  leisure  for  thought  and 
study,  was  the  most  profitable  in  the  end.  The  inscription 
over  the  study  of  Zachary  Ursinus  was  put  up  on  the  cross 
in  the  library  at  Newland  : 


224  RETREAT  FOR  MID- LENT. 

Amice  quisquis  hue  venis 

Aut  tace 

Aut  agita  paucis 

Aut  discede 

Aut  me  laborantem  adjuva. 

I  look  forward  to  great  happiness  in  being  associated  with  you 
in  our  work  for  some  time  longer  (he  writes  in  1866  to  a  young 
friend  who  had  just  received  priest's  orders),  though  I  feel  that 
the  time  must  come  when  I  shall  lose  you,  through  the  necessity, 
which  will  be  inevitable,  of  introducing  you  to  larger  and  wider 
fields  of  labour. 

There  was  nothing  like  Newland  Church  then  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  many  earnest  spirits  were  attracted 
thither,  desiring  to  be  further  instructed.  The  following 
paper  seems  to  have  been  written  for  one  desiring  to  devote 
a  week  during  Lent  to  special  acts  of  devotion.  It  was  not 
unusual  for  people  to  come  for  a  few  days  to  dwell  near  the 
church,  for  a  kind  of  private  Retreat,  and  the  Vicar  of  New- 
land  did  not  spare  trouble  in  helping  them.  He  had  taken 
part,  by  Bishop  Wilberforce's  invitation,  in  the  Lent  Mis- 
sion held  at  Marlow  in  1865,  and  this  paper  may  have  been 
drawn  up  for  some  one  who  came  under  his  influence  at 
that  time  :— 

Mid-Lent,  1865. 

1.  Take  three  days  for  special  preparation  of  heart  and  mind 
— (a)  that  an  earnest  desire  for  separation  from  the  world  and 
closer  union  with  Christ  may  be  excited  and  inflamed  within  you ; 
(b)  that  you  may  go  to  the  special  devotions  of  the  following  days, 
not  by  constraint  or  formally,  but  deliberately  and  with  joy  and 
gladness ;  (c)  that  you  may  arrange  other  matters  so  as  to  escape 
all  interruption  whatsoever. 

2.  In  each  of  these  three  days  have  regard  to  the  special  pre- 


MID- LENT  RETREAT.  22 5 

sence  of  God  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  offer  them  all  three,  separately, 
to  the  three  distinct  Persons,  and  again  all  three  in  one  to  the 
Blessed  Unity,  that  your  three  powers  of  memory,  intellect,  and 
will  may  be  fully  and  wholly  consecrated  to  Him. 

Say  daily  twice,  morning  and  evening,  the  Veni  Crcato?'  in 
both  forms  in  the  Ordination  office. 

Use  these  ejaculations,  Jer.  ix.  i,  2  ;  Ps.  lv.  6-8 ;  Ps.  lxxxiv. 
1-13  ;  Ps.  xlii.  ;  Ps.  xxiii. 

Resolve,  deliberately,  to  employ  a  fixed  time  at  the  end  of  these 
three  days,  for  special  scrutiny  of  yourself,  and  offer  your  resolu- 
tion to  God,  saying  Ps.  cxix.  57-72. 

3.  Meditate  daily  upon  Moses'  retirement  in  the  mount,  neither 
seeing  any  nor  seen  by  any  for  forty  days  and  nights. 

Upon  Abraham's  going  up  into  Moriah  with  Isaac  alone,  the 
servants  and  the  ass  left  behind. 

So  you  propose  to  be  alone  with  God.  None  in  all  the  world 
but  He  and  you ;  blind  so  as  to  see  none  but  Him,  deaf  so  as  to 
hear  none  but  Him,  dumb  so  as  to  converse  with  none  but  with 
Him  :  dead  to  all  else,  alive  only  to  Him. 

Meditate  daily  on  Jesus'  often  retirement  into  the  mountain 
or  the  desert,  to  pray,  and  unite  your  solitude  with  His  solitude 
and  so  try  to  learn  from  Him  what  you  must  do  for  the  full  re- 
paration and  restoration  of  your  broken  life  and  what  is  the  end 
of  this  retirement. 

(a)  Jesus'  solitude  in  His  mother's  womb  for  nine  months. 

(b)  In  Nazareth,  till  He  was  thirty. 

(c)  In  wilderness,  when  He  fasted  for  forty  days  and  forty 
nights. 

(d)  In  wilderness  of  Ephraim  (St.  John  xi.  54). 

(e)  In  the  court  (St.  Matt.  xiv.  23). 
(/)  In  Tabor  (St.  Matt.  xvi.  1). 

(g)  In  country  of  Decapolis  (St.  Mark  vii.  2,3)- 
(h)  In  Olivet  (St.  Matt.  xxvi.  36-39). 

(t)  In  the  Blessed  Eucharist,  where  in  a  mystery  He  is  alone. 
(J)  After  His  resurrection  forty  days  on  earth  almost  always 
alone. 

Q 


226  MID- LENT  RETREAT. 

Take  one  or  more  of  these  instances  of  solitude  each  day,  and 
dwell  thoughtfully  upon  it,  that  you  may  alone  converse  with 
Jesus,  God  and  Man,  and  bring  all  your  life,  inner  and  outer,  into 
His  presence,  and  so  derive  from  His  solitude,  that  yours  may  be 
perfected  and  all  your  shortcomings  supplied. 

4.  The  object  with  which  you  are  to  give  up  seven  days,  after 
these  three,  to  special  dedication  to  God  is — 

(a)  For  a  thorough  scrutiny  of  all  your  life,  your  actions,  daily, 
weekly,  monthly,  yearly — 

Your  defects  and  imperfections. 
The  causes  or  roots  of  these  defects. 
The  means  of  curing  and  correcting  these  defects. 
Here  you  are  to  read  over,  carefully,  all  such  causes  and  such 
means  as  have  been  given  to  you  in  writing. 

(b)  To  inspect  your  heart,  your  passions,  affections,  motives, 
intentions,  propensities  : 

What  most  wounds  and  hurts  and  hinders  your  spiritual  life. 

To  reduce  all  such  hindrances  to  the  rules  that  you  have 
received,  and  to  rearrange  or  rewrite  them,  if  they  should  have 
fallen  into  confusion  or  disuse. 

(c)  To  consider  carefully  the  special  and  particular  gifts  and 
powers  toward  the  use  of  which  for  Him  God  allures  and  draws 
you,  or  for  which  you  have  the  greatest  need,  and  to  inquire  and 
note  down  the  means  of  acquiring  them  and  turning  them  most  to 
profit. 

(d)  To  consider  carefully — 

Your  state  of  life  unto  which  God  has  called  you. 

Its  duties,  in  order. 

Your  sins  and  shortcomings  and  defects  in  it. 

Remedies  wThich  you  know  against  these  sins  and  defects. 

Remember  that  salvation  is  in  the  state  into  which  God  calls 
you,  or  it  is  nowhere. 

5.  To  consider  carefully  that  the  end  of  the  exercise  which 
you  are  about  to  undertake  is  your  amendment  and  groiuth  in  grace 
and  improvement,  and  to  take  care  and  to  pray  against  the  danger 
of  missing  that  end  and  so  undertaking  the  exercise  in  vain. 


MID- LENT  RETREAT.  22*] 

Day  I. 

To  be  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  the  end  for  which  you 
were  born. 

i.  (a)  Not  many  years  ago,  and  you  had  no  being;  none 
spoke  of  you,  or  thought  of  you. 

(b)  You  owe  it  to  God's  goodness  that  He  brought  you  out  of 
that  nothing  in  which  you  lay,  to  be  what  you  are,  His  child,  His 
heir,  although  He  had  no  need  of  you. 

(c)  This  your  being,  the.  highest  and  noblest  of  all  creation,  is 
capable  of  an  eternal  prolongation  and  of  the  most  perfect  union 
with  God  Himself  in  glory  and  bliss. 

(d)  The  end  of  your  being,  therefore,  not  to  make  a  figure  in 
the  world,  or  to  do  your  own  pleasure,  but  to  praise  and  love  and 
honour  and  serve  God,  and  at  length  to  enjoy  the  glory  of  His 
kingdom  in  heaven. 

(«?)  God  has  given  you  means  of  reaching  this  end — 

Intellect,  to  know  God. 

Will,  to  love  God. 

Eyes,  to  see  His  works. 

Tongue,  to  praise  His  name. 

All  your  senses  and  members  to  do  Him  service. 

All  creatures  to  help  you. 

There  is  nothing  which  God  has  made  but  He  has  made  it  for 
you,  to  be  used  for  His  honour  and  glory. 

2.  The  emotions  which  you  are  to  seek  to  be  stirred  up  in  you 
because  of  these  considerations  are — 

(a)  Humble  yourself  in  the  thought  of  your  nothingness. 

(b)  Thank  God  for  bringing  you  out  of  it  and  giving  you  life 
with  such  an  end  to  live  for. 

(c)  Grieve  over  your  abuse  of  life  and  the  means  of  living  for 
such  an  end  as  He  has  given  you. 

(4)  Offer  Him  yourself  anew — body,  soul,  spirit,  with  all  your 
powers  and  affections — professing  and  declaring  that  you  desire 
.and  seek  to  live  but  for  God  and  God  alone. 

You  have  many  suitable  prayers  and  forms  for  turning  this 


228  MID-LENT  RETREAT. 

day's  exercise  into  devotion.  Use  such  as  are  most  suitable  and 
familiar  to  you.  Be  careful  to  kneel  at  the  beginning  and  at  the 
end.  But,  during  the  day's  exercise,  use  such  a  position  as  best 
enables  you  to  fulfil  it  with  self-recollection  and  without  injury  to 
health. 

Day  II. 

To  be  devoted  to  thoughts  proper  to  the  purging  of  your  life 
and  a  general  confession  of  sin. 

i.  Place  yourself  in  the  presence  of  God  and  implore  the  help 
of  His  Holy  Spirit.  Seek  for  light  to  know  your  state  as  He  knows 
it,  and  for  gratitude  to  acknowledge  the  light  already  received. 

2.  Do  not  go  so  much  into  the  past  years  of  your  life  as  into 
the  present  since  your  last  confession. 

(a)  Your  accustomed  sins. 

(b)  Your  perverse  tendencies. 

(c)  Your  affections  which  are  least  under  control  and  most 
hindering  to  you. 

(d)  The  common  and  ordinary  faults,  daily,  weekly,  monthly, 
yearly. 

(e)  Your  ungratefulness. 

(/)  Your  progress  or  retrogression  in  the  spiritual  life. 
(g)  Your  conduct  towards  God. 
(h)  Your  conduct  towards  your  neighbour. 
(/)  Your  conduct  towards  yourself. 

Use  such  prayers  and  devotions  as  you  have  already  in  use. 
Say  Ps.  li. 

Day  III. 

Devote  this  day  to  the  consideration  of  the  results  of  the  last 
day's  work. 

i.  Return  thanks  to  God  for  any  amendment  in  your  life  since 
last  resolutions  made,  and  acknowledge  His  mercy  alone  in  it  and 
nothing  in  you. 

2.  Humble  yourself  before  God,  and  own  that  your  little 
advance  has  been  through  your  own  fault,  because  you  have  not 
faithfully  and  courageously  and  constantly  corresponded  with  the 


MID-LENT  RETREAT.  229 

light  and  help  which  He  has  given  you  in  prayer  and  Holy  Com- 
munion, and  at  other  times  and  in  other  ways. 

3.  Promise  that  you  will  for  ever  praise  God  for  His  grace 
and  love  vouchsafed  to  you  to  withdraw  and  win  you  off  from  so 
much  evil  about  and  around  you. 

4.  Beseech  pardon  for  your  unfaithfulness  and  disloyalty  in 
not  answering  His  calls. 

5.  Offer  your  whole  heart  to  Him  that  He  may  make  Himself 
Master  of  it  and  reign  exclusively  in  it. 

6.  Pray  Him  to  make  you  more  and  more  faithful  to  Him. 
Use,  as  before,  such  prayers  and  devotions  and  materials  as 

you  possess,  fit  for  this  exercise. 

Day  IV. 

Devote  this  day  to  the  consideration  of  death,  and  to  the 
disposing  and  arranging  of  all  things  as  if  you  were  immediately 
to  die. 

This  is  the  fittest  time  for  such  an  arrangement  of  the  heart 
and  soul.  Therefore  let  your  mind,  all  day,  be  as  much  possessed 
with  the  reality  of  your  death,  as  if  you  knew  for  certain  that  it 
was  to  take  place  to-morrow. 

Use  the  seventh  part  of  the  "  Paradise  of  the  Christian  Soul." 

Day  V. 

Devote  this  day  to  the  consideration  of  the  life  of  light  which 
God  the  Holy  Ghost  gives  you  in  the  knowledge  and  imitation  of 
the  life  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  object  before  you  is  to  renew  your  election  in  Him  by 
which  you  bear  His  Name,  are  a  subject  in  His  kingdom,  and  are 
enlisted  to  fight  in  His  army. 

1.  Your  need  of  His  life  and  example  by  which  to  regulate 
yours  (Rom.  viii.  26-30  ;  and  first  Epistle  of  St.  John  ii.  6). 

2.  Dwell  on  that  word  "ought"  which  means  must;  not  a 
counsel  therefore,  but  an  obligation  and  a  necessity. 

3.  Bless  God  for  this  Great  Exemplar. 


230  MID-LENT  RETREAT. 

4.  Be  humbled,  that  with  His  whole  life  before  your  eyes,  you 
have  ruled  yours  so  little  according  to  it. 

5.  Offer  yourself  to '  Jesus  Christ,  as  a  piece  of  wax,  soft  and 
ready  to  receive  His  Image,  that  He  may  be  pleased  to  imprint 
His  image  upon  it,  and  that  you  may  think  and  speak  and  act,  in 
all  things  and  ways,  as  He  would  think  and  speak  and  act. 

6.  Collect  and  make  an  epitome  of  what  Jesus  did  and  suffered 
for  thirty-three  years  in  respect  of  matters  and  circumstances 
which  you  also  have  been  called  to  do  and  suffer. 

7.  Get  rid  of  fear  and  shame  that  you  should  have  to  do  and 
suffer  what  He  did  and  suffered ;  and  blush  not  to  call  Him  Master. 

8.  Confess  that  you  have  not  done  and  suffered  after  His 
example.  Remember  St.  Paul's  '-'glory"  in  nothing  but  in  the 
cross  by  which  He  wTas  crucified  unto  the  world  and  the  world  to 
Him. 

9.  Offer  your  life  anew  to  Christ  to  be  re-modelled  after  Him. 

Day  VI. 

Devote  this  day  to  the  consideration  of  your  life  as  united  to 
the  life  of  God  in  Christ.  His  unspeakable  blessings  of  love  to 
you :  Your  unspeakable  debt  of  love  to  Him  :  His  blessing  to  you  : 

i.  Who  it  is  who  gives  you  blessing. 

2.  "Who  you  are  who  receive  it. 

3.  Why  it  is  conferred. 

4.  How,  in  what  measure,  with  what  love. 

5.  "Without  any  the  least  desert,  but  against  desert — not  only 
freely,  but  in  spite  of  non-deserving. 

Your  debt  of  love — 

1.  Purity  of  intention  and  purpose. 

2.  Conformity  of  your  will  with  His  Will. 
And  in  order  to  excite  this,  consider — 

(1)  Excellency  of  your  soul,  in  that  God,  of  His  own  free  will, 
embraces  it. 

(2)  That  your  soul  has  but  one  regard,  eternal  union  with 
God — why  should  you  be  taken  up  with  anything  less  ? 


MID- LENT  RETREAT.  23 1 

(3)  That  your  soul  can  take  in  God  and  be  taken  in  of  Him — 
why  should  you  rest  in  any  creature  ?  Out  of  the  ark,  the  dove 
found  no  rest  for  her  wing ;  out  of  God,  your  soul  can  find  no 
rest. 

(4)  The  greatness  and  dignity  of  a  holy  life;  the  peace,  the 
joy,  the  hope  that  it  brings  in  the  midst  of  trial  outside. 

(5)  Compare  the  love  wherewith  you  are  born  up  and  in  to  God, 
and  wherewith  He  embraces  you,  with  the  love  which  carries  you 
into  the  creature,  and  wherewith  the  creature  persecutes  you. 

(6)  Think  of  the  saints  and  their  lives  in  God  and  their  wit- 
ness for  Him.  They  were  what  you  are.  You  have  same  means 
and  graces  and  gifts. 

(7)  Think  of  Christ's  love  for  you,  specially  in  His  Passion 
and  death.  Before  you  were  born,  He  thought  of  you  on  the 
cross,  and  of  providing  for  your  spiritual  wants  ;  just  as  a  mother 
prepares  cradle  and  clothes  before  her  child  sees  the  light. 

(8)  Think  of  the  eternity  of  God's  love.  It  began  with 
eternity  and  runs  through  eternity — that  is,  it  is  without  beginning 
or  end  ;  and  this  love  is  for  you. 

Use  as  before  prayers  which  befit  these  thoughts. 

Day  VII. 

Devote  this  day  to  resolutions  of  a  more  pure  and  holy  and 
devoted  life. 

Offer  them  to  God. 

If  you  have  opportunity,  go  to  Holy  Communion  with  this 
offering. 

If  you  have  the  "  Introduction  to  a  Devout  Life,"  by  St.  Francis 
de  Sales,  use  the  protestation  in  the  first  part,  c.  20 ;  if  not,  use 
the  act  of  good  resolve  in  the  "  Paradise,"  iv.,  "  Practice  of  Virtue," 
p.  47. 

Consider  that  you  have  now  a  fresh  call  to  conduct  yourself 
everywhere,  at  home  and  abroad,  that  whosoever  shall  see  you 
shall  know  that  you  have  been  with  God.   "  This  hath  God  done." 

When  you  return  again  to  your  ordinary  daily  life,  be  natural 


232  "  NOTES  ON  HUMILITY." 

and  watchful  nevertheless.  You  will  have  need  of  all  the  powers 
which  you  have  been  seeking  to  keep  you  from  falling.  But  be  of 
good  heart ;  and  go  to  your  duties  brightly  and  sweetly,  and  say, 
"  I  know  Him  in  whom  I  trust  and  believe."  God  bless  and 
keep  you.  J.  S. 

The  "  Notes  on  Humility  "  seem  to  have  been  given 
as  helps  to  self-examination  during  a  day's  private  retreat. 

Notes  on  Humility — how  to  acquire  it. 

First  Part. 

Pride  is  inordinate  love  of  self,  of  one's  own  excellence,  which 
we  inherit  from  the  Fall ; — "  eritis  sicut  Dei." 

1.  The  first  sin  to  rise,  the  last  to  die ;  you  see  it  in  the  infant, 
and  in  the  aged  saint ;  the  most  universal,  and  yet  the  last  to  be 
acknowledged — "Bene  practicatum  et  male  cognitum"  says  Syl- 
vester •  and  so  most  difficult  to  cure  :  that  which  you  don't  know 
you  don't  amend. 

II.  Pride  is  distinct  from  ambition,  presumption,  and  vain- 
glory: thus — 

Ambition  craves  for  excellence  in  dignity  ;  presumption  craves 
for  excellence  in  work ;  vainglory  craves  for  excellence  in  repu- 
tation.    But  pride  is  confined  to  personal  excellence. 

III.  Pride  is  a  mortal  sin  because  and  whenever — 
i.   It  includes  disrespect  towards  God  : — 

(a)  Not  willing  to  submit  to  Him ;  (o)  taking  credit  to  se  i  f 
for  what  Fie  alone  has  done ;  (c)  thinking  one  has  deserved  what 
is  purely  gratuitous. 

2.  It  includes  avowed  contempt  of  one's  neighbour  : — 

(a)  Not  willing  to  own  a  lawful  superior ;  (l>)  despising  equals 
or  inferiors  in  the  temper  of  the  Pharisee  to  the  publican. 

3.  The  heart  is  fixed  upon  it,  as  its  object,  as  the  end  of  life. 
And   this  happens  when  one  would  rather  sin  mortally,   by 

breaking  a  plain  law  of  God,  than  not  gratify  one's  pride,  ambi- 
tion, presumption,  or  vainglory.  Hence  it  is  a  mortal  sin  for  a  man 
to  obtain  a  spiritual  or  temporal  office  for  which  he  is  unfit,  and 


"  no  tes  on  humility:'  235 

which  he  holds  to  the  damage  of  the  Church  or  the  State  ;  or  for 
a  man  or  woman  to  put  a  scandal  in  the  way  of  another  rather 
than  put  off  a  superfluity  in  dress  or  equipage. 

IV.  Pride,  even  when  it  is  venial,  either  through  incomplete- 
ness of  act  or  deliberation,  or  through  insignificance  of  matter,  is 
always  dangerous  and  harmful,  because  (a)  it  is  a  hinderer  of 
grace,  and  (b)  it  is  a  root  of  evil. 

V.  St.  Thomas  and  others  say  that  God  sometimes  permits 
the  pious  to  fall  into  such  sins  as  lust  and  luxury,  that  they  may 
be  humbled  by  the  shame  of  them,  and  so  be  recovered  from 
pride ;  which  he  takes  for  an  evidence  of  the  deadliness  of  the 
disease  which  requires  another  disease  to  cure  it. 

VI.  It  is  remedial  to  consider — ■ 

1.  What  Holy  Scripture  says,  and  through  it  the  Holy  Ghost, 
reprobating  and  condemning  the  vice  of  pride  and  its  associates, 
praising  and  commending  humility. 

2.  Humility  and  self-contempt  (the  opposites  of  pride)  are  the 
results  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  our  own  worthlessness.  There- 
fore it  is  remedial  often  and  again  to  contemplate  our  own  vileness, 
body  and  soul. 

3.  Remedial  also  (a)  often  to  consider  the  example  of  Christ, 
in  every  detail  of  the  incarnate  life,  (b)  Prayer,  (c)  attendance  at 
daily  Eucharist,  (d)  at  every  conscious  temptation  to  a  proud 
thought,  to  make  an  inner  ejaculation  to  Jesus  Christ  to  be  made 
humble  by  His  humiliation ;  to  cite  a  text  of  Holy  Scripture  to  be 
used  as  a  sword  to  kill  pride. 

4.  Remedial  also  against  vainglory ;  besides  the  above,  to  con- 
sider how  utterly  vain  a  thing  must  be  which,  in  God's  sight,  can 
not  only  do  nothing  for  man,  but  can  only  do  him  wrong,  which 
takes  away  our  reward  ("Verily  they  have  received  their  reward"), 
and  in  the  place  of  it  puts  us  in  the  position  of  objects  of  Gods 
revenge. 

VII.  Rash  judging  or  suspecting  others  is  a  fruit  of  pride. 

St.  Thomas  gives  three  roots  or  sources  of  this  rash  judgment: 

1.  Being  evil  one's  self,  one  thinks  and  speaks  evil  of  others. 

2.  One  dislikes  another,  or  despises  or  hates  him,  or  is  vexed 


234  "  NOTES  ON  HUMILITY:' 

or  angry  or  envious  towards  him ;  and  so,  on  light  grounds, 
judges  him  hastily,  because  every  one  is  apt  to  believe  easily  what 
he  prefers  should  be. 

3.  One  has  had  long  and  varied  experience,  and  so  learns  to 
distrust. 

Other  causes  are — ■ 

{a)  Too  good  opinion  of  one's  self  compared  with  another's 
gifts,  leading  to  depreciation  of  them. 

(b)  Credulity — easy  ear  to  uncertain  things  about  others. 

(c)  Ignorance — by  which  internally  one  judges  without  knowing. 

(d)  False  persuasions.  From  physiognomy,  dress,  manner, 
gestures,  etc.,  one  concludes  such  and  such  vices. 

VIII.   1.  It  is  remedial  in  general  against  rash  judgments — 

(a)  to  correct  one's  own  faults,  by  which  one  will  cease  to  see 
faults  in  others,  or  at  least  to  attribute  to  others  the  same  motives 
and  intentions  of  amendment  as  one  has  one's  self. 

(b)  To  cultivate  love  which  thinketh  no  evil. 

{c)  To  forget  the  evil  one  has  seen,  and  to  try  to  remember 
the  good. 

2.  It  is  remedial  against — 

(a)  Too  good  opinion  of  self — to  remember  (as  supra)  and  to 
look  to  one's  own  faults. 

(b)  Credulity — to  remember  how  fallacious  all  human  judg- 
ments are,  and  never  to  listen  to  reports  of  evil. 

(c)  Ignorance — to  remember  that  all  rash  judgments,  even 
internal,  are  hateful  to  God.  Every  one  has  jus  or  right  in  his 
good  name  among  men,  which  you  wound  when  you  take  it 
away. 

(d)  False  persuasion — to  be  charitable. 

(e)  Evil  interpretations — to  pray  against  them  daily,  and  to 
practise  the  opposite.  "  Judge  not,  and  ye  shall  not  be  judged  " 
(St.  Luke  vi).  "  Who  art  thou  that  judgest  another?  "  (Rom.  xiv.). 
"Judge  nothing  before  the  time  "  (1  Cor.  iv.). 

3.  Against  loquacity  and  lightness  and  giddy  talk — remember 
St.  James  i.  26,  "  If  any  man  among  you  seem  to  be  religious, 
and  bridleth  not  his  tongue,  but  deceiveth  his  own  heart,  this 


"notes  on  humility:'  235 

man's  religion  is  vain."  It  is  a  far  more  grievous  injury  to  one's  self 
than  to  any  other,  dissolving  favour  and  friendship  with  God  and 
peace  with  and  in  Christ 

Consider  besides  the  guilt  and  the  gravity  of  the  obligation  to 
make  restitution.  Consider  the  rule,  "  Quod  tibi  non  vis  fieri 
alteri  n  e  feceris. ' ' 

Second  Part. 

I.  The  whole  matter  is  really  seated  in  the  inner  life.  It  is 
that  which,  as  in  the  sight  of  God,  has  to  be  examined — the 
emotions,  passions,  and  hidden  springs  of  thought  and  word  and 
act  and  look. 

II.  Let  me  suppose  that  I  am  unjustly  rebuked  and  re- 
proached ;  in  matter,  without  adequate  foundation ;  in  a  manner 
exaggerated  and  untender. 

III.  What  I  have  to  examine  my  conscience  about  is  the  way 
in  which  I  have  taken  this  visitation  and  used  it — 

(1)  As  towards  God. 

(2)  As  towards  my  own  soul. 

(3)  As  towards  my  neighbour.     Let  me  say  the  Vent  Creator,. 

and  at  the  verse — 

"  Enable  with  perpetual  light 
The  dulness  of  my  blindest  sight," 

stop — acknowledge  my  natural  blindness  in  spiritual  things,  and 
repeat  the  verse  three  times. 

IV.  As  towards  God.  Examine  my  humility  in  the  light  of  the 
following  thoughts,  cast  upon  my  way  of  receiving  reproach. 

1.  When  we  are  corrected  by  any  (justly  or  unjustly),  it  may 
be  (is  it  not  always  ?)  God  who  is  dealing  with  us.  But  He7 
the  Highest  of  all,  is  only  pleased  to  show  Himself  to  the  humble. 
His  correction  to  those  who  resist  is  intolerable ;  to  those  who 
humble  themselves  it  is,  as  it  were,  a  communing  and  a  co-opera- 
tion with  Him  (Ps.  xxxiv..  18).  He  is  glorified  when,  for  love  of 
Him,  we  are  abased.  "  When  men  are  cast  down,  then  thou  shah 
say,  There  is  lifting  up ;  and  He  shall  save  the  humble  person  " 
(Job  xxii.  29). 


-36  u  NOTES  on  humility:* 

2.  St.  Ignatius  says  that  among  refined  and  cultured  people 
there  is  far  greater  need  for  inner  contempt  of  themselves,  and  for 
mortification  of  the  desire  for  human  respect  (and,  therefore,  for 
humiliation  by  reproofs  and  shame),  than  for  corporal  austerities. 

Jesus  elected  to  be  called,  and  to  be,  the  "  outcast "  of  the 
people  and  a  "reproach"  among  men. 

It  is  very  common  for  persons  to  use  words  of  self-reproach 
and  self-rebuke  and  self-contempt,  who  are  really  very  sensitive 
to  the  good  opinion  of  others,  and  whose  pride  makes  them  to  be 
wounded  to  the  quick,  if  others  reproach  or  rebuke  them.  When 
we  learn  to  take  pleasure  in  being  thought  little  of,  and  to  despise 
praise,  we  are  getting  near  to  perfection. 

3.  If  humility  does  not  show  itself  in  our  reception  of  little 
crosses  with  cheerfulness  and  acquiescence,  it  is  not  true  that 
what  makes  us  patient  under  great  crosses  is  humility. 

4.  The  more  God  has  given  us  of  grace  and  light  and  oppor- 
tunities, the  more  need  for  our  being  humbled,  because  there  is  the 
more  matter  for  humility.  The  more  you  are  in  debt,  the  poorer 
you  ought  really  to  consider  yourself  to  be. 

5.  St.  Ignatius  says  it  is  more  difficult,  and  therefore  more 
rare,  to  mortify  the  spirit  than  the  body.  Philosophy  can  help 
men  to  the  latter.  Only  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  teaches  the  former  ; 
und  they  who  never  learn  it  do  not  learn  Him.  To  bear  external 
evils  is  only  the  husk  of  patience;  to  bear  the  inner  wounds  of 
the  spirit  is  to  have  the  substance  of  patience  and  humility,  which 
alone  can  breed  patience. 

6.  Humility  is  the  first  gift  to  which  other  gifts  are  liberally 
added.  Forgiveness  and  peace  and  favour  with  God  come  gene- 
rously behind,  but  none  of  them  before  humility.  The  deepest 
valleys  receive  the  most  water  from  the  lofty  mountain-tops.  If, 
first,  the  vessel  of  the  soul  is  not  emptied,  wholly  of  itself,  there 
will  be  no  room  for  God  to  fill  it  with  Himself. 

7.  God  overrules  every  event  in  the  life  of  each  of  His 
children  for  the  supply  of  the  need — and  the  spiritual  need — 
which  He  knows  to  exist  in  each,  and  which  He  must  be  trusted 
to  supply  in  His  own  way.     The  real  ever-pressing  question  which 


"  notes  on  humility:'  237 

the  soul  has  to  put  to  itself,  daily  and  hourly,  in  the  presence  of 
each  detail  of  the  special  Providence  of  God,  who  made  that  soul 
for  His  own  glory,  is  this :  "  Am   I   humbly  giving  God  thanks, 
and  rejoicing  in  Him  and  in  His  will  evermore  ?  " 
V.   1.  As  towards  my  own  soul;  let  me  examine — 

(a)  The  end  of  probation,  sanctification,  salvation,  through 
purgation,  mortification,  contrition. 

(b)  The  end  of  glorifying  God,  through  use  of  His  Spirit  in 
maintaining  the  consciousness  of  His  presence,  and  so  the  end  of 
sanctifying  and  transforming  (by  restraining  and  disciplining)  the 
whole  life  of  thought  and  word  and  act  and  feeling — the  life  of 
every  capacity — intellect,  imagination,  memory,  will. 

2.  Troubles,  crosses,  worries,  disappointments,  reproaches, 
mistakes  and  cruelties  (unconscious)  of  others,  etc.  "  Non  sunt 
iibi  scandala  '  {offences)  sed  prcelia  (battles),"  says  St.  Cyprian, 
u  nee  debilitent  ant  frangant  Christiani  fidem,  scd  potins  osten- 
dant,  in  coUnctcitio?ie,  virtntem."  To  be  praised  and  flattered 
would  be  no  battlefield  or  victory  to  those  prone  to  love  such 
fields ;  to  be  reproached  and  rebuked  and  misrepresented — any- 
how— to  be  humbled — is  a  "  prcelium "  in  which  victory  must 
follow,  if  we  accept  the  field. 

3.  God  sometimes  sends  us  sweetnesses  for  our  good ;  more 
often  (because  more  safely),  what  is  bitter.  St.  Augustine  puts 
it :  "  Res  prospera  donnm  est  eonso/antis,  res  antem  adversa  ad- 
monentis  Dei"  "  I  will  thank  the  Lord  for  giving  me  warning" 
is  a  blessed  test  (when  we  have  to  bear  a  reproach)  of  whether 
we  are  using  it  aright. 

4.  The  monk  Cassian,  speaking  of  trials  in  general,  says  they 
are  sent  to  us  in  three  ways — "  triplici  nwdo  inferunter." 

(a)  "  Plerumque  ob  emendationem." 

(b)  "Nonnunquam  ob  merita  delictorum." 
(e)  "  Interdum  ob  merita  delictorum." 

Of  course,  often  they  come  for  all  three  purposes,  especially 
for  the  last ;  to  punish  us  for  past  sins,  of  which  the  traces  still 
remain. 

5.  It  were  fearful  to  think  what  some  of  us  might  become  if 


238  "  NOTES  ON  HUMILITY." 

we  had  no  such  instruments  to  discipline  and  correct  us.  St. 
Gregory  says  that  "  those  who  were  compelled  to  come  in  to  the 
supper  of  the  great  King  "  represent  the  souls  who,  had  they  not 
been  compelled  by  the  discipline  of  suffering,  would  never  have 
come  to  Christ  at  all. 

6.  The  brevity  and  afflictions  and  trials  of  life  are  the  results 
of  our  sins  which  are  always  present  to  God ;  it  must  be  good  for 
us  to  have  them,  anyhow,  recalled  to  our  souls.  "  Thou  hast  set 
our  misdeeds  before  Thee  and  our  secret  sins  in  the  light  of  Thy 
countenance."  The  Vulgate  renders  it,  "  Sceculwn  nostrum  in 
■illuminationc  vultus  Tin';"  as  if  our  negligences  and  ignorances 
and  sins  were  our  life.  We  are  never  so  likely  to  be  contrite 
for  those,  as  when  we  desire  ourselves  to  see  them  as  God  sees 
them,  and  to  take  the  rebukes  of  our  fellows  as  a  humiliation  and 
punishment  which  we  deserve. 

The  question,  therefore,  as  concerning  our  own  souls  in  the 
matter  of  any  special  humiliation,  is,  "  What  use  have  I  made,  or 
am  I  making,  of  it  in  the  light  of  these  six  considerations  ?  " 

And  1.  How  as  to  imitating  our  dear  Lord  in  it,  and  being 
glad  to  be  called,  in  any  way,  to  be  like  Him  in  bearing  ? 

2.  How  as  to  thanking  Him  for  it  in  the  presence  of  the 
mystery  of  His  Incarnation,  of  His  joy  in  humiliation,  His  patience 
in  suffering  : — 

(a)  The  mortification  of  my  spirit  (understanding)  to  faith  ; 

(ft)  The  mortification  of  my  imagination,  and  memory,  and 
fancy  to  hope  ; 

(c)  The  mortification  of  my  will,  passions,  emotions,  fears,  to 
love  ? 

3.  How  about  the  contrition  of  which  the  penitent  David  is 
an  example,  saying,  "  I  acknowledge  my  faults,  and  my  sin  is  ever 
before  me  "  ?—  the  past  unforgiven  sin,  not  in  detail,  but  in  general  ; 
it  is  never  absent  from  me  ;  it  preserves  my  contrition  and 
humility  ever  fresh,  and  makes  me  take  punishment  when  it 
comes  in  this  life  as  love. 

VI.  As  regards  my  neighbour. 

1.  At  the  worst  he  cannot  be  worse  than  an  enemy  smiting 


"  NOTES  on  humility:' 


239 


me,  in  hatred  and  malice  and  falsehood ;  and  yet  were  he  that, 
and  were  I,  as  Jesus,  sinless,  I  must  needs  take  his  treatment 
gently  and  sweetly,  and  offer  him  my  cheek  to  smite. 

2.  The  question  as  to  any  special  reproach  is  not  whether  the 
charge  may  not  be  exaggerated  or  unjust  (all  human  judgments 
are  unjust  more  or  less),  but  whether  (a)  there  be  any  failing  at 
all  of  the  kind  with  which  I  am  charged  in  my  life,  heretofore  or 
now,  and  (b)  whether  there  be  any  room  for  me,  in  these  several 
respects,  to  improve  and  become  a  more  perfect  character. 

3.  It  is  not  good  to  dwell  upon  the  disqualifications  of  others 
for  correcting  us,  and  upon  the  defects  in  their  method  of  doing 
so  ;  least  of  all  upon  the  wrong  which  we  may  be  tempted  to  think 
they  have  done  us.  Admitting  that  (1)  I  have  need  to  be 
amended,  and  (2)  that  God  overrules  all  instruments  for  the 
amendment  of  those  who  need  it,  why  should  I  not  gently  submit 
myself  to  be  corrected  and  take  it  for  love? 

4.  Consider  the  plain  language  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  "Whoso 
loveth  instruction,  loveth  knowledge,  and  he  that  hateth  reproof 
is  brutish  "  (Prov.  xii.  1).  "  He  that  regardeth  reproof  shall  be 
honoured"  (Prov.  xiii.  18).  "He  that  rebuketh  a  man  after- 
wards shall  find  more  favour  than  he  that  fiattereth  with  the 
tongue"  (Prov.  xxviii.  23).  "Open  rebuke  is  better  than  secret 
love,"  "  Faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend  "  (Prov.  xxvii.  5,  6. 
■Compare  with  Gal.  iv.  16). 

5.  (a)  I  have  to  manifest  the  "free  spirit"  (Ps.  li.  12),  i.e.  the 
spirit  of  love. 

The  presence  of  this  spirit  in  me  is  one  of  the  signs  of  my 
own  predestination,  which  (if  it  be  wanting)  may,  alas  !  be  wanting 
also. 

Why  did  St.  Paul  protest  (Rom.  viii.  $S)  that  nothing  could 
separate  him  from  God  ?  It  was  not  from  any  revelation  specially 
vouchsafed  to  that  effect ;  for  probably  at  that  time,  certainly  the 
year  before,  he  knew  that  he  must  chasten  and  mortify  himself 
lest  he  should  become  a  "castaway." 

But  he  protested  that  nothing  could  separate  him  from  Christ, 
because  he  knew  that  he  willed  nothing  but  His  will.     And  this 


240  "  notes  on  humility:' 

will  of  St.  Paul's  was  the  spirit  of  love,  which  David  calls  "  Thy 
free"  or  " principal"  spirit — -dominant  spirit;  spirit  which  governs 
the  life,  and  delivers  from  the  dominion  of  the  flesh. 

(b)  This  spirit  is  also  the  spirit  of  humility :  if  I  would  see 
others  advanced  in  it  I  must  myself  descend ;  the  gold-seekers 
and  the  pearl-fishers  must  go  down  into  the  depths  of  the  earth 
and  sea  before  they  find  treasure.  Consider  in  this  the  example 
of  Jesus. 

(c)  Evil  is  never  to  be  overcome  by  evil,  but  by  good  (i  Thess. 
v.  15).  What  nothing  else  can  accomplish,  meekness,  His  "free 
spirit,"  can  effect.     Patience  is  the  irresistible  eloquence. 

(d)  No  voice  so  powerful  to  win  and  persuade  as  the  humilia- 
tion of  saints  ;  it  is  more  than  whole  libraries  of  argument. 

(e)  Others  may  not  have  had  my  privileges  and  blessings ;  if 
they  have  much  to  throw  off  which  hinders  perfection,  they  have 
the  more  need  of  the  gentle  and  sweet  compulsion  of  example. 

6.  Love  and  meekness  and  joy  and  cheerfulness  under  all 
humiliation  will  bring  me  a  double  blessing. 

It  will  diminish  the  pain  of  bodily  and  mental  suffering, 

While  it  will  increase  the  good  of  it. 

It  cannot  give  offence,  and 

It  will  not  take  offence. 

It  will  have  its  reward  from  God  ; 

It  will  be  most  grateful  to  man. 

A  short  paper  on  certain  "  Moral  Considerations," 
recommended  to  those  unsettled  by  the  claims  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  may  be  useful  to  some  minds,  and  also 
a  few  letters  on  this  subject. 

The  whole  controversy,  as  between  Catholic  truth  {Christianas 
mihi  nomen,  Catholicus  cognomen)  and  Roman  Catholic  argu- 
ment is,  of  course,  too  deep  and  wide  for  ordinary  persons. 
Therefore,  sides  are  taken,  for  the  most  part,  either  ignorantly 
without  full  information ;  or  wilfullyy  to  please  self,  or  some 
interest ;  or  blindly  >  at  the  bidding  of  another. 


CONSIDERATIONS  AS   TO  ROME.  24 1 

Mo7'al  Considerations. 

1.  That  our  personal  safety,  even  to  eternal  salvation,  is  not 
the  whole  end  of  religion,  just  as  our  own  honour  and  glory  are 
not  the  end  of  our  being.  The  end  of  our  being  is  to  do  and  to 
suffer  the  will  of  God,  and  to  honour  Him. 

2.  That  in  times  of  trial  and  difficulty  such  as  these,  when,  for 
the  sins  of  all,  the  Christian  Church  is  divided  in  the  world,  and 
visible  unity  is  suspended,  the  true  test  of  a  Christian  is  patience 
under  the  cross,  and  endurance  under  that  special  form  of  the 
cross  which  the  providence  of  God  imposed  upon  us  at  our  first 
call  into  His  kingdom. 

That  the  multitude  of  heresies  and  divisions  in  the  Church  of 
Christ  from  the  first,  caused  the  name  of  God  to  be  blasphemed 
among  Jews  and  Gentiles  ;  yet  the  faithful  never  doubted.  See  in 
the  earliest  apologies  of  the  Fathers  for  Christianity  how  the  value 
of  heresies  and  divisions  for  testing  truth  is  recognized. 

That  ignorance  and  wilfulness  always  were,  and  always  will  be, 
the  chief  causes  of  hastiness  and  impatience  in  times  of  religious 
trial. 

3.  That  moral  evil,  in  the  form  of  division  in  religion,  is  not 
stranger  than  in  the  form  of  any  other  breach  of  God's  command- 
ments. God  has  nowhere  promised  any  exception  in  favour  of 
visible  unity  in  religion  from  that  law  by  which  all  other  evils  are 
permitted  to  try  His  elect.  On  the  contrary,  division  in  the 
Church  is  expressly  provided  for  in  His  word.  Therefore  the  true 
Catholic  Church  does  not  require  a  condition  on  earth  in  which 
there  shall  be  no  evil  of  division. 

That  the  Church  Catholic,  from  the  apostles'  days  to  these, 
has  had,  and  continues  to  have,  tares  sown  in  it ;  and  these  cannot 
be  rooted  up  till  the  great  harvest  at  the  end  of  the  world. 
As  early  as  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  Epiphanius  mentions 
no  less  than  eighty  distinct  heresies  prevalent  in  the  Church, 
within  so  short  a  time  from  the  Day  of  Pentecost.  It  is  morally 
a  crime,  therefore,  to  say  that  men  must  root  up  each  other, 
because  they  cannot  wait  till  the  great  harvest  day. 

R 


242  CAUSES  OF  SEPARATION. 

That  it  is  wrong  to  say  that  the  modern  Church  of  Rome  has 
"  rooted  up "  the  Catholic  Church  in  England  because  she  is 
divided  {i.e.  Rome  herself  first  divided  her,  and  then  gave  division 
as  the  cause  for  rooting  her  up).  Because,  if  a  Mahometan, 
or  a  Jew,  or  a  heathen  should  argue  against  Christianity  that 
it  cannot  be  true,  because  of  the  divisions  amongst  its  professors, 
the  Church  of  Rome  could  not  answer  the  argument. 

That  the  charge  of  Rome,  therefore,  against  England,  on  the 
score  of  division,  if  good  for  anything,  is  good  against  Chris- 
tianity itself.  Because  in  moral  truth,  what  is  incident  to  the 
whole  Church  of  Christ  can  prove  nothing  against  any  one  portion 
of  it. 

Churches  still  remained  catholic  in  early  times,  even  though 
full  of  heretics. 

4.  That  the  ground  of  attack  on  the  Catholic  Church  of  Eng- 
land is  as  untenable  morally  as  certainly  it  is  untenable  historic- 
ally ;  and  therefore  the  whole  ground  is  assumed  instead  of  proved, 
and  rests  upon  the  enormous  audacity  of  a  claim,  rather  than  upon 
the  integrity  and  strength  of  an  argument,  or  the  authority  of  a 
revelation.     For — 

(a)  What  is  that  which  makes  a  Church  to  be  catholic  and 
true,  but  its  inherited  rightful  commission  to  minister  the  sacra- 
ments, received  from  Christ,  and  its  inherited  reception  of  the 
universal  creeds  ?  But  the  Church  of  Rome  cannot  deny  our 
inherited  commissions,  because  it  came  to  us  from  themselves ; 
and  if  we  have  not  got  it,  neither  have  they.  Nor  can  they  deny 
our  reception  of  the  unmutilated  creeds  ;  for  we  have  them,  and 
use  them,  more  perfectly  than  themselves. 

(&)  What  is  the  moral  value  of  the  charge  of  separation  ?  It 
is  true  we  are  separated,  but  who  and  what  separated  us  ?  Sepa- 
ration may  be  an  argument  for,  as  well  as  against,  a  Church. 
Unity  is  not  necessarily  truth.  If  so,  then  it  would  follow  that 
Aaron,  at  the  head  of  the  united  congregations  of  Israel,  worship- 
ping the  golden  calf,  must  have  been  the  true  Church  of  the  Jews. 
Indeed,  morally,  there  is  more  probability  that  the  concurrence  of 
all  Roman  Catholics  (if  it  were  so)  in  the  modern  position  of 


UNION  NOT  TRUTH.  243 

Popery  is  a  strong  argument  against  it,  than  the  contrary ;  because 
it  may  go  to  prove  that  it  is  only  a  conspiracy,  an  overgrown 
schism  from  the  one  Holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  of 
Christ,  since  there  are  various  causes  of  union  besides  truth 
(indeed  truth  generally  causes  division)  which  notoriously  work  in 
Rome — ignorance,  compulsion,  and  fear.  And  equally  important 
is  it  to  note  what  are  the  causes  of  division,  and  how  bound  up 
with  man's  natural  corruptions — 

Utter  ignorance  of  Holy  Scripture. 

Curiosity  and  audacity. 

Ambition  and  vanity. 

Covetousness. 

Contention  and  strife. 

It  is  absurd  to  pretend  that  these  moral  evils  are  to  be  got 
rid  of  by  a  hard  and  fast  theory  of  papal  supremacy,  and  an 
iron  law  of  extermination  by  authority.  They  may  be  lessened 
or  aggravated,  but  they  cannot  be  expelled,  until  human  nature 
has  passed  beyond  its  field  of  probation  in  the  flesh,  and  entered 
upon  its  promised  perfection  in  heaven. 

5.  The  sum  of  these  moral  considerations,  in  the  presence  of 
the  charge  of  division  brought  against  us  by  Rome,  is  this  : — 

The  more  trial,  the  more  reward  to  faith  and  patience,  in  the 
place  of  trial  into  which  we  are  called,  from  the  first 

As  to  union,  there  is  more  successful  combination  among  men 
for  evil  than  there  is  for  good.  Lucifer's  army  has  the  strength  of 
union  more  visibly  than  Michael's.  There  never  were  three  or 
four  pretenders  to  Lucifer's  throne.  He  always  has  held,  and  still 
holds  it  undisputed.  Unity,  in  visible  strength,  therefore,  will 
never  pass  muster  as  a  good  argument  for  the  Catholic  Church, 
whatever  Rome  may  claim  for  the  Roman  Church. 

But  if  (for  argument)  it  should  be  granted  that  unity  is  a  good 
and  sufficient  evidence  for  truth,  we  have  more  of  it  in  the 
English  Church  than  the  Romans  in  theirs. 

More  of  it,  actually  ;  because  we  recognize,  in  the  world  of 
East  and  West,  in  all  the  ancient  seats  of  the  early  faith,  in  the 
•Churches  of  Asia  and  Africa,  as  well  as  among  our  neighbours  the 


244  UNITY. 

Churches  of  Rome  and  Italy  and  Gaul  and  Spain — we  recognize 
heartily  the  truth  which  is  common  to  all,  and  we  extend  to  them 
the  hand  of  Christian  fellowship  and  love ;  whereas  Rome  does 
nothing  but  anathematize,  if  she  has  not  obtained  full  and  absolute 
subjection  in  all  things  to  herself.  More  of  it  actually — because, 
if  the  truth  were  known,  there  are  no  such  vital  differences  touch- 
ing the  soul  of  Christianity  among  our  too  candid  and  outspoken 
English  countrymen,  as  are  now  to  be  found  eating  away  the  spiri- 
tual life  of  Italians  and  Frenchmen  and  Spaniards,  with  all  the 
more  voracity  because  wTell  concealed  beneath  the  veil  of  outward 
conformity. 

And  there  is  more  potential  unity  among  us  than  in  Rome, 
because,  as  it  was  said  years  ago,  so  may  it  be  said  still — the  doc- 
trine of  the  papal  supremacy,  developed  recently  into  a  dogma  of 
the  Faith,  necessary  to  salvation,  and  culminating  in  the  Pope's 
personal  infallibility,  is  the  seed  of  division  i?i  her  bowels.  This 
doctrine  has  caused  endless  feuds  and  factions  in  times  past,  and 
it  must  and  will  cause  them,  till  God  shall  take  it  out  of  the  way. 


To 


...  At  last  I  have  a  few  minutes  free  in  which  to  send  you 
my  message  of  love  and  blessing  for  Easter,  and  to  give  you  a 
short  word  of  counsel  in  the  difficulty  in  which  you  are  placed  with 

respect  to  the  faithful  but  wayward .     In  one  word,  my  advice 

is  to  let  her  go  from  your  household,  and  the  sooner  the  better. 
Hers  is  a  case  of  will ;  cases  of  will  are  unapproachable  by  argu- 
ment,   even    where  there   is  capacity    to    measure   the  value   of 
historical  and  theological  facts.     But  where  there  is  less  capacity 
of  intelligence  there  is  the  more  strength  of  will. 

The  position  which  she  wants  you  to  recognize,  of  com- 
munion in  things  sacred,  indifferently,  in  Roman  and  English 
Churches  in  England,  is  an  impossible  position.  The  Romans 
have  made  it  impossible  ;  because  they  have  excommunicated  us, 
and  made  the  terms  of  communion  such  that  we  must  deny  facts 


EFFICACY  OF  SACRAMENTS.  245 

as  plain  as  that  Pope  Honorius  was  condemned  (about  as  plain 
as  that  Charles  I.  was  beheaded),  before  we  can  accept  them. 

We  are  the  descendants  of  the  "  Catholics  "  who  in  the  first  ten 
years  of  Elizabeth  made  no  difficulty  whatever  in  conforming  to 
the  "  Reformed  worship."  In  those  days  the  wished-for  position 
was  possible.  English  and  Roman  Catholics  were  merged  in  one 
— in  "  Catholic."  But  when  the  Pope  excommunicated  all  who 
would  not  accept  his  unlawful  terms — terms  rendered  more  unlaw- 
ful than  ever  since  the  modern  Vatican  Council — the  position  of 
the  Romans  in  England  was  lost. 


To . 

...  I  have  just  got  home  from  London  to  find  a  host  of 
letters  in  arrears  to  be  answered.  .  .  .  What  can  you  do,  of  course, 

but  receive  the  Blessed  Sacrament  at  Mr. 's  hands,  closing 

your  eyes  to  him  and  to  his  ways,  and  stretching  out  only  to  your 
Lord  and  Saviour,  whom  he  cannot  possibly  hinder  you  from 
receiving. 

It  is  all  very  sad,  no  doubt,  and  a  tremendous  trial ;  but, 
thank  God,  His  sacraments  do  not  depend  for  their  vitality  and 
efficacy  upon  the  qualities  personally  inherent  or  wanting  in  their 
administrators.      The  efficacy  of  the   sacraments   depends  solely 

upon  Christ's  appointment.     If  Mr.  R be  a  truly  ordained 

priest,  exercising  his  ministry  lawfully,  his  own  want  of  faith  or 
holiness  or  reverence  may  and  must  affect  his  own  soul  in  the 
effect  of  his  ministrations  of  Divine  things ;  but  if  he  were  as 
wicked  as  Hophni  and  Phineas,  or  as  holy  as  Samuel,  he  could 
not  affect  the  Divine  things  themselves,  or  hinder  the  end  for 
which  God  ordained  them.  If  it  were  otherwise,  how  fearful  it 
would  be  never  to  feel  sure  that  anywhere  one  was  receiving  a 
valid  sacrament — for  so  it  would  be  of  necessity,  if  one's  benefit 
depended  upon  the  faith  or  the  life  of  the  administrator,  of  which, 
of  course,  no  human  judgment  could  be  certain  and  secure.  Go, 
therefore,  by  all  means  :  and  do  not  look  at  the  altar,  or  at  Mr. 
R ;  close  your  eyes  to  everything  outward,   and  fix  them 


246  NATURE   OF  ENVY. 

upon  your  crucified  Lord,  and  see  none  but  Him  and  Him  alone. 
.  .  .  May  God  ever  bless  you  and  yours. 


To 


I  am  very  much  grieved  for  you,  and  earnestly  pray  God  you 
may  be  delivered  from  the  assaults  of  the  spirit  of  envy,  so  that 
the  soul  which  he  seeks  to  hurt  may  be  freed.  But  know  this — 
the  nature  of  envy  as  a  deadly  sin  :  it  is  deliberate  grief  at  the 
good  which  another  enjoys,  as  if  that  good  lessened  your  own. 
And  it  is  "deadly,"  because  it  kills  love,  which  rejoices  in  the 
"  good  "  of  another,  because  every  "  good  "  in  others  glorifies  God. 
Envy  wishes  the  "good  "  away,  and  grieves  because  it  is  present. 
The  deadliness  of  this  sin  arises  out  of  its  tendency  to  counteract 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  grace  of  our  loving  Lord.  And  the 
children  which  it  begets  are  children  of  death ;  e.g.  (1)  Hatred, 
(2)  Detraction,  (3)  Joy  in  another's  loss,  (4)  The  arresting  of 
friendship  between  souls. 

When  you  have  well  considered  what  envy  really  is,  I  am 
persuaded  you  will  know  that  you  have  not  really  yielded  to  it, 
though  you  may  have  run  too  near  to  it.  It  is  therefore  that  I 
am  anxious  to  protect  you  against  it  and  against  yourself.  I.  If 
another's  good  is  to  your  harm,  for  example,  it  is  not  envy,  but 
fear,  to  wish  that  "  good  "  away.  II.  If  another  has  a  "  good  M 
which  is  wanting  to  you,  and  that  you  only  so  desire  to  have  that 
"  good  "  as  that  it  shall,  in  no  sense,  be  lessened  to  that  other,  it  is 
not  "  envy,"  but  jealousy.  .  .  .  III.  If  another  has  a  good  for 
which  you  are  sorry  because  that  other  is  unworthy  of  it  or  makes 
a  bad  use  of  it,  it  is  not  "  envy,"  but  indignation,  which  is  not  a 
sin,  unless  it  accuse  God  and  His  merciful  providence  to  man. 
Envy  is  "  invidia,"  from  "  invidus,"  a  person  who  does  not  see. 
You  do  not  see  another's  "  good  "  without  sorrow  on  account  of 
that  "good."  You  grieve  that  another,  who  is  your  equal,  or  not 
much  above  you  or  below  you,  should  have  an  excellence  which 
gives  him  or  her  a  superiority,  and  you  grieve  because  you  take 
that  as  an  evil  to  yourself. 


RETREATS.  247 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  you  have  been  tempted  to  some- 
thing like  this,  though,  I  trust,  not  deliberately  to  will  this — that 
you  have  had  the  "  sensus "  of  this  horrible  sin,  but  not  "  con- 
sensus ;  "  and  it  is  a  maxim,  "  non  nocet  sensus,  ubi  deest  con- 
sensus.'' I  am  persuaded  that  you  hate  the  sin,  so  far  as  you  see 
its  attack  upon  yourself,  that  you  contend  and  fight  and  struggle 
with  it ;  that  you  are  not  quiescent  under  its  onslaught,  but  that 
you  contest  its  power  over  you.  Continue  to  wrestle  with  it  and 
do  not  fear.  The  Kingdom  suffereth  violence,  and  the  violent 
take  it  by  force ;  this  is  true,  in  great  things  and  small,  of  the  daily 
inner  life  of  those  whom  God  loves.  And  remember,  that  in 
actual  conflict  there  is  neither  victory  nor  defeat  for  long,  though 
in  the  end  there  will  be  one  or  the  other.  I  take  it  that,  in  your 
present  case,  you  have  been  alarmed  at  the  consciousness  of  the 
enemy's  presence,  and  have  taken  conflict  for  defeat.  Continue 
to  fight,  and  to  fight  with  more  zeal,  and  with  arms  sharpened 
anew  in  the  furnace  of  love,  through  persevering  prayer ;  and  all 
will  be  well. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Retreats  for  the  laity  as 
well  as  clergy  were  becoming  general ;  and  Mr.  Skinner  took 
an  active  part  in  their  revival.     He  writes  on  this  subject : 

Do  not  be  anxious  about  the  Retreat.  God  has  charge  of  it 
all ;  and  you  have  nothing  really  to  do  except  to  surrender  your- 
self to  Him  and  it  to  Him,  to  be  dealt  with  as  He  shall  will.  He 
shall  be  kept  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  Him  :  the 
end  of  a  Retreat  is  to  be  more  stayed  on  Him.  Begin  it,  therefore, 
with  a  resolute  purpose  to  let  go  every  other  care,  trouble,  anxiety, 
fear,  but  the  one  anxiety — to  have  no  thought  but  Him. 

My  earnest  advice  to  you  is  to  let  it  prove  itself,  and  to  ab- 
stain, wholly,  from  any  forecastings  or  prejudgments  concerning 
it  or  its  conductor.  It  is  of  the  essence  of  any  good  outcome 
from  a  Retreat,  that  you  should  believe  in  the  Blessed  Spirit — 
before  it,  in  it,  and  after  it — as  the  sole  Mover  of  all  good  and  bless- 
ing ;  and  just  in  the  measure  in  which  you  are  taken  up  with  the 
human  instruments  employed,  do  you  mar  the  simplicity  of  this 


248  RESOLUTION  IN  RETREAT. 

act  of  faith,  and  deprive  yourself  of  your  full  reward  :  so  think 
no  more  of  anything  about  the  Retreat,  except  the  absolute 
surrender  of  it  all,  in  faith  and  trust,  to  God  the  Holy  Ghost. 


As  to  the  meditation,  week  by  week,  resolved  on  in  Retreat, 
of  course  if  you  find  it  altogether  a  failure,  you  must  give  it  up, 
and  substitute  something  else.  The  usual  discipline  of  Retreats 
implies  the  continuance  of  the  whole  resolution,  from  the  time  at 
which  it  was  taken,  on  to  the  time  of  the  next  Retreat,  at  which 
another  will  be  taken  to  supply  its  place.  And  the  rationale  of 
this  is,  I  think,  obvious  : — that,  the  end  of  a  Retreat  being  the 
perfection  of  the  soul's  life,  the  elements  which  go  to  make  up 
perseverance  in  the  direction  of  that  end  cannot,  without  loss,  be 
neglected.  The  resolution  is  a  leading  element.  If  one  fails  to  per- 
severe in  even  the  resolution,  how  shall  one  ever  reach  the  end  ? 

However,  it  would,  I  think,  be  an  error  to  substitute  the  tech- 
nical form  for  the  spiritual  and  living  thing,  and  I  am  of  opinion 
that  if  you  fail  to  strike  sparks  of  fire  out  of  one  form,  you  must 
try  another.  You  cannot  anyhow  be  the  same  since  the  Retreat 
that  you  were  before  it ;  all  that  you  received  and  gave,  then  and 
there,  make  the  difference,  and  probably  nothing  will  better  sum  up 
that  difference,  or  at  least  commemorate  it,  than  the  resolution 
and  meditation  which  you  promised  to  make. 

And  now  as  to  your  resolution.  I  think  you  ought  to  go 
on  making  it  till  it  has  passed  into  your  life.  Of  course,  this  is 
the  end  of  making  it ;  and  if  you  stop  short  of  the  end,  of  what 
use  making  it  ?  It  is  not  like  a  penance,  given  in  a  penal  as 
well  as  a  remedial  sense,  with  a  defined  limit.  It  is  an  inspired 
purpose  which  is  never  satisfied  till  it  is  fulfilled.  Not  that  you 
will,  certainly,  be  able  to  know  at  any  time  that  you  have  fully 
accomplished  it ;  but  that  your  mind  and  intention  and  will  to 
accomplish  it  can  never  cease.  So  your  resolution  will  pass  into 
your  life  of  daily  or  hourly  prayer,  and  will  become  as  much 
part  of  yourself  as  your  daily  confession  or  oblation  or  thanks- 
giving or  intercession. 


PRA  YER.  249 

As  to  the  precise  form  of  meditation,  I  am  not  in  a  con- 
dition to  speak  clearly,  because  I  did  not  hear  the  key  to  it.  But, 
if  I  do  not  mistake,  I  take  that  to  be  of  comparatively  little  im- 
portance, You  can  change  the  form  of  meditation  after  a  month 
or  two,  or  indeed  have  no  special  form  at  all ;  but  to  the  substance, 
to  the  thing,  in  order  to  which  you  have  dedicated  yourself  afresh, 
you  must  adhere  steadfastly,  and  all  the  more  because  it  came  to 
you  in  the  course  of  the  Retreat,  as  direct  from  God  the  Holy 
Ghost  Himself.  I  enclose  a  prayer  which  will  perhaps  be  a  help 
to  you  in  shaping  this  fresh  and  most  important  act  of  devotion. 

Prayer  to  be  said  daily  by  memory. 
I  bless  and  praise  and  thank  Thee,  O  my  God,  for  Thy  Mercy 
to  me  in  my  Retreat ;  and  now  I  beseech  Thee, 

To  grant  me  pardon  of  all  my  sins,  perfect  contrition,  and 
life-long  repentance  ; 

To  protect  me  from  myself,  lest,  after  so  much  grace  received, 
I  fall  back  again  into  my  old  and  too  familiar  ways,  and  so  add 
sin  to  sin ; 

Above  all,  to  strengthen,  by  Thy  grace,  every  effort  which  I 
make  to  subdue  my  flesh,  to  restrain  my  tongue,  to  mortify  my 
pride  and  vanity,  and  to  fix  my  conscience  on  Thee,  as  the  One 
End  of  all  I  think,  and  say,  and  do. 

Finally,  O  Blessed  Lord,  I  beseech  Thee  to  pour  down  upon 
me  such  grace  as  may  not  only  cleanse  this  life  of  mine,  but 
beautify  it  a  little,  if  it  be  Thy  Will, — before  I  go  hence  and  am 
no  more  seen.     Grant  me — 

g  jj?       /The  loving  Fear  of  Thy  most  holy  Name ; 
I  The  Hope  that  never  can  be  too  brave ; 
The  Humility  that  never  can  be  too  deep ; 
The  Patience  that  never  can  be  too  long ; 
The  Discretion  that  never  can  be  too  wise ; 
The  Poverty  of  Spirit  that  never  can  be  too  meek ; 
The  Obedience  that  never  can  be  too  perfect ; 
The  Courage  that  never  can  be  too  enduring ; 


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The  Diligence  that  can  never  be  too  exact. 


250  CARELESSNESS. 

To  these  add,  O  my  God,  the  grace  which  is  greater  than  all — 
that  I  may  love  Thee  with  all  my  heart  and  soul  and  mind  and 
strength,  and  my  neighbour  as  myself — and  that  I  may  persevere 
unto  the  end ;  and  all,  for  the  sake,  and  through  the  merits,  ol 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  who  ever  liveth,  etc.     Amen. 

And  here  I  must  urgently  entreat  you  to  be  more  watchful 
against  that  tendency  to  "forget"  a  duty  which  so  very  often 
wounds  and  mars  one's  warm  and  hopeful  expectations  for  you. 
It  is  not  that  you  forget  some  ordinary  thing,  or  even  some 
auxiliary  things.  That  anybody  might  do  through  infirmity,  and  be 
only  a  little  the  worse.  But  you  forget  some  substantial  and 
special  direction  to  meet  some  special  need ;  and  this  cannot  be 
without  great  loss  and  harm.  I  know  that  this  forgetting  is 
not  wilful,  and  that  God,  in  His  love,  will  bear  with  you ;  but  it 
indicates  great  remissness  of  thought  and  memory  in  the  things 
which  most  concern  you ;  and  you  cannot  continue  in  such 
remissness  without  loss. 

Now  say  once  more,  Nunc  ccepi ;  and  may  the  blessed  God  keep 
you  from  falling,  and  make  you  to  grow  more  and  more  in  the 
love  of  His  service  and  the  obedience  to  His  commandments. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

BEREAVEMENT. 
1866-ii 


"  Tra  bella  e  buona 
Non  so  qual  piu  fosse." 

THE  "  sterner  sound  "  calling  to  sorrow  and  trial  of  which 
the  Vicar  of  Newland  had  thought  in  his  brightest  days 
came  first  in  the  comparatively  early  death  of  the  beloved 
and  most  loving  brother  who,  from  the  time  he  became  a 
widower,  had  made  his  home  with  his  brother  James.*  He 
had  property  in  Guatemala,  and  in  December,  1866,  crossed 
the  Atlantic  for  the  thirty-ninth  time,  intending  to  wind  up 
his  affairs  in  South  America,  and  spend  the  rest  of  his  days  in 
peace  at  home.  His  last  letter  was  begun  at  a  place  called 
Paraiso  (in  English,  "Paradise  "),  near  Panama,  where  he  had 
gone  in  search  of  the  scarlet  passion-flower,  which  had  been 

*  George  Ure  Skinner,  F.L.S.,  was  one  of  the  most  accomplished  botanists 
of  his  day.  He  introduced  into  this  country — discovered  by  himself  in  the 
wilds  of  Guatemala — some  of  our  finest  hothouse  Orchidacea;.  Many  are 
named  after  him — Barkeria  Skinneri,  Cattleya  Skinneri,  Ly caste  Skinneri,  and 
several  others.  Among  the  rarest  and  most  beautiful  of  his  discoveries  is  the 
Odontoglossiim  grande.  Ornithology  also  owes  much  to  Mr.  Skinner.  Not 
less  than  twenty  species  of  birds  were  first  sent  over  to  England  by  him  from 
Guatemala.  Mr.  Gould,  in  his  beautiful  work  on  "  Humming-  Birds,"  acknow- 
ledges again  and  again  how  much  naturalists  in  this  country  owe  to  Mr. 
Skinner's  discoveries. 


252  DEATH  OF  GEORGE    URE  SKINNER. 

long  an  object  of  desire.  He  found  it,  and  described  its 
beauty  enthusiastically,  ending  his  letter  on  the  Epiphany 
at  Aspinwall,  where,  he  says,  "  I  came  to  spend  my  Sunday, 
as  I  can  get  a  Church  service."  Next  day  he  was  a  little 
unwell,  and  on  the  9th  he  was  at  rest,  dying  of  yellow  fever. 
The  loss  of  this  most  dear  brother  and  father  brought  a 
heavy  shadow  over  the  bright  life  at  Newland,  and  no  one 
suffered  more  from  it  than  Mr.  Skinner.  Writing  to  a 
friend  of  his  brother,  he  says — 

His  heart  was  always  with  God.  He  lived  a  watchful  life,  in 
continual  readiness  to  die.  It  is  remarkable,  especially  to  those 
who  love  him,  how  his  heart  seemed  to  be  won  and  possessed  by 
that  "scarlet  passion-flower"  in  the  latter  days  of  his  earnest 
diligent  life,  and  how  the  Epiphany  was  foremost  in  his  mind  when 
he  returned  to  the  place  where  death  was  lurking  for  him. 

The  sudden  blow  and  deep  sorrow  told  severely  on  Mr. 
Skinner's  health,  and  early  in  March  he  went  to  Torquay 
for  a  little  change  and  rest.  He  did  not  return  much 
better,  but  fought  against  his  weakness,  and  on  Good 
Friday  gave,  for  the  first  time,  the  Three  Hours'  Meditation 
on  the  Passion.  Before  another  Lent  came  round  he  was 
to  know,  by  deep  experience,  the  bitterness  and  sweetness 
of  the  cross,  and  to  teach  by  example  as  well  as  word. 
For  this  was  the  last  year  on  earth  of  his  only  child. 

In  a  letter  written  at  this  time,  April,  1867,  just  after 
her  last  Easter  on  earth,  she  says — 

The  Easter  services  have  been  very  joyous  and  beautiful. 
All  has  been  as  it  should,  and  everything  "  went  well,"  as  we  say. 
The  church  looks  most  lovely.     Really  the  chancel  is  unequalled 

in   beauty.      Mrs.   P presented  the  church  on    Easter  Eve 

with  the  most  lovely  processional  cross,  which  I  will  not  attempt 
to  describe,  but  which  I  trust  you  will  soon  see. 


EASTER  AT  NEWLAND.  253 

We  finished  our  work  on  Easter  Eve  just  in  time  to  get  a 
hurried  cup  of  tea  before  service ;  and  then  in  a  state  of  excite- 
ment entered  the  church.  Can't  you  exactly  imagine  the  feelings 
one  experiences  when  waiting  for  the  service  to  begin  on  Easter 
Eve — the  thrilling  breathless  joy,  the  almost  nervous  excitement, 
the  listening  for  the  bell  to  stop,  the  thought  that  Easter  is  come 
bounding  back  on  one  every  moment  ?  Oh,  I  am  sure  that  Easter 
joy  is  that  joy  which  no  man  taketh  from  you;  I  never  felt  it  so 
really  as  I  did  this  year.  Well,  the  bell  stopped,  and  then  came  the 
joyous  shout  of  triumph,  "  Jesus  Christ  is  risen  to-day,  Alleluia  !  " 
and  down  came  the  procession  headed  by  the  lovely  cross, 
appearing  high  above  the  heads  of  the  people,  gleaming  in  the 
light — the  symbol  of  victory — victory  over  death  and  sin.  Oh, 
how  glorious  the  hymn  sounded,  and  how  I  shouted  it  till  my 
voice  seemed  choked  with  an  almost  strange  gladness  !  .  .  .  When 
the  choir  were  in  their  places,  the  cross  was  put  by  papa  in  a  little 
place  made  to  receive  it.  That  Eve  service  was  almost  too 
beautiful,  if  such  a  thing  could  be  !  The  whole  of  the  music  was 
glorious,  and  papa  preached;  and  then  while  the  alms  were 
collected  we  had  "The  strain  upraise,"  which  was  shouted,  and 
the  organ  pealed  out  in  it  famously,  and,  to  crown  all,  we  had 
"  O  Paradise  !"  as  a  recessional.  There's  no  time  like  Easter  in 
this  world  ;  and  think  of  that  Easter  which  is  to  come  ! 

The  church  looked  fresh  and  quiet  and  lovely  at  the  early 
service  on  Easter  Day  itself.  We  had  very  many  communicants, 
the  number  during  the  day  being  one  hundred  and  thirty-six.  It 
has  been  a  very  happy  Easter,  not  like  any  other — not  like  last 
year,  but  still  very  happy ;  and,  miss  him  as  we  did,  how  could  we 
wish  him  back  to  us,  when  his  Easter  must  have  been  tenfold 
more  glorious.  But  Easter  brings  us  very  near  those  blessed 
ones,  and  our  joy  is  their  joy. 

She  had  grown  up  a  tall,  fair  maiden,  and  had  she  lived, 
her  uncommon  gifts,  both  of  nature  and  grace,  must  have 
made  her  remarkable.  It  belongs  to  the  story  of  her 
father's  life  to  tell  something  of  the  jewel  which  he  lost, 


254  AGNES  RAYMOND  SKINNER. 

and,  as  we  faithfully  believe,  has  found  again.  She  who 
has  allowed  the  following  sketch  to  be  printed  wishes  us  to 
remember  that  it  was  written  in  the  first  instance  (by  a 
most  intimate  companion)  only  "  to  meet  the  eyes  that 
had  dwelt  lovingly  on  that  pure  young  face,  with  the  rose- 
bud colour,  flushing  and  fading  at  every  passing  emotion, 
the  'partridge  eye/  and  the  bonny  brown  hair — all  the 
gracious  charms  of  that  brief,  early  girlhood." 


St.  Barnabas',  Pimlico,  was  Agnes'  first  English  home  ; 
there  she  sang  the  Psalter  in  church  without  difficulty  at 
four  years  old.  Before  service  began,  she  used  to  put  her 
Bible  into  her  mother's  hand,  and  whisper,  "  Find  me  about 
the  virgins,  mamma  "  (St.  Matt,  xxv.)  ;  then  sit  quietly 
reading  her  favourite  parable  till  the  clergy  came  in. 
"  Hush !  the  angels  are  here,"  she  said,  holding  up  her  little 
finger,  when  her  father  carried  her,  just  three  years  old, 
into  church.  It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  real  poetical 
feeling  in  this  little  rhyme,  made  up  entirely  by  herself 
when  four  or  five  : — 

"  Sing,  sing,  sing, 
Christmas  is  coming  ! 
Cheer,  cheer,  cheer, 
Christmas  now  is  here  ! 
vSigh,  sigh,  sigh, 
Christmas  is  gone  by  ! " 

At  ten  years  old  she  began  to  give  herself  rules  for  keeping 
Lent,  and  in  this  she  persevered  to  the  end.  After  her 
death  her  mother  found  these  first  rules  written  out,  with  a 
table  annexed  to  show  how  they  had  been  kept,  and  each 
year  she  added  to  them.     "  We  used  to  have  such  beautiful 


CHILDHOOD.  255 

talks  together,"  she  said  to  me  when  dying,  speaking  of 
her  mother.  "You  can't  think  how  she  talks  of  these 
things,  and  I  never  could  rest  till  I  had  told  her  everything" 
Her  devoted  affection  for  both  her  parents  was  marked  by 
the  sensitive  enthusiasm  which  she  possessed.  How  excited 
she  became  one  day,  when  quite  a  child,  during  a  discussion 
in  the  schoolroom  about  martyrdom,  and  afterwards  about 
what  would  be  the  easiest  death  to  die.  "Oh,"  she  ex- 
claimed, u  but  a  martyr  would  not  choose  the  easiest 
death." 

Some  points  in  her  character  did  not  come  out  forcibly 
until  after  her  confirmation,  to  which  she  had  eagerly  looked 
forward  long  before,  always  having  an  earnest  desire  to 
become  a  communicant.  She  was  entirely  a  playful,  merry 
child  at  the  time  she  was  confirmed  ;  after  that  her  character 
seemed  to  develop  very  rapidly,  though  she  very  seldom 
gave  expression  to  her  deepest  thoughts  and  aspirations. 
Those  thoughts  were  ever  how  she  could  become  more 
like  her  Lord.  She  writes  to  one  intimate  friend  and 
companion  after  her  confirmation  : 

I  wish  I  were  as  good  as  you.  It  is  very  hard  to  be  good, 
but  I  do  think  it  is  easier  now  that  I  am  confirmed.  I  have 
thought  of  a  new  plan  to  help  me  to  be  good  which  I  will  tell 
you.  I  write  down  every  evening  when  I  go  to  bed  each  wrong 
thing  I  do  in  the  day,  and  pray  God  to  forgive  me  them,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  month  I  shall  compare  them  with  the  last  month's 
paper,  and  by  that  see  how  far  I  am  improved  and  how  far  gone 
back.  Also  the  other  day  I  made  some  resolutions,  and  wrote 
them  down  on  paper,  and  these  I  read  over  every  morning  and 
evening,  and  try  to  keep  them  as  I  would  rules ;  and  pray  daily  to 
God  to  help  me  keep  them,  and  if  I  have  broken  any  I  write  it 
down  with  the  other  wrong  things  I  have  done  in  the  day.     It 


256  LETTERS   TO  A   FRIEND. 

would  be  very  nice  if  you,  dear  ,  would  do  the  same,  for  we 

should  be  so  much  more  together  in  the  spirit.  .  .  .  One  is  so  apt 
(at  least  I  am)  to  be  puffed  up  if  one  improves  in  the  least,  instead 
of  giving  the  glory  to  God.     Suppose  I  were  to  die  suddenly,  as 

K.  G did — where  should  I  go  to  ?    I  long  to  be  able  to  answer 

without  doubt  and  with  real  truth  ;  Heaven.  Oh,  may  God  have 
mercy  upon  me,  and  bring  me  to  the  haven  where  I  would  be  ! 
Rest !  what  a  happy  thought !  No  more  trials,  no  more  tempta- 
tions, no  more  sin  ;  at  rest,  and  at  rest  with  Jesus.  And  there 
will  be  no  more  partings  there,  no  more  sorrow.  May  God  bless 
and  keep  us  both,  and  bring  us  to  that  other  world  to  live  with 
Him  for  ever.  You  don't  know  how  much  I  wish  for  your 
prayers ;  they  will  do  me  good.  Pray  for  me  that  my  sins  may 
be  forgiven.     Promise  me  that  you  will  always  pray  this. 

She  persevered  in  her  "  plan,"  begun  at  fourteen,  to  the 
very  last  day  that  she  had  strength  for  it,  about  a  month 
before  her  death.     She  writes  at  this  time  of 

the  blessing  of  weekly  communion,  of  lovely  services,  of  the  always 
open  church,  always  ready  to  receive  us,  to  "rest  awhile."  It 
seems  like  going  to  Jesus.  There  are  two  verses  in  the  "  Christian 
Year  "  that  seem  written  expressly  for  me  : 

"  Mortal,  if  life  smile  on  thee,  and  thou  find 
All  to  thy  mind, 
Think,  who  did  once  from  heaven  to  hell  descend, 

Thee  to  befriend : 
So  shalt  thou  dare  forego,  at  His  dear  call, 
Thy  rest,  thine  all. " 

Writing  in  the  same  strain,  she  says  in  another  letter — 

I  think  of  you  always   in  my  prayers  and  in  church.     Prayer 

brings  us  very  close  together.     Will  you,  dear ,  say  a  little 

prayer  for  me  every  day  at  9.30  ?  And  so  will  I  for  you  when 
I  go  into  church.  What  should  we  be  if  we  might  not  pray? 
Pray  always  !     We  can  pray  always  ;  and  as  well  as  bringing  us 


HOME.  257 

near  to  God,  it  seems  to  bring  us  near  each  other,  for  our  prayers 
ascend  together  to  heaven  and  meet  before  the  throne  of  God. 

Here  is  another  bit  from  one  of  her  childish  letters  : 

And  then  there  was  the  stroll  home  alone ;  the  half-dreamy 
feeling  of  fatigue  and  happiness  ;  the  sitting  down  under  a  hedge 
in  the  shade  to  rest ;  the  quiet  solitude  and  stillness ;  the  lovely, 
lovely  everything  around  !  Of  course  I  was  happy.  Can  you  doubt 
it  ?  And  now  I  am  sitting  in  the  schoolroom ;  the  outer  blind 
down ;  Dickie  hanging  in  the  open  window ;  the  blue  sky ;  the 
trees  all  just  the  same.  Well,  it's  a  world  !  A  new  and  original 
remark  !  What  sort  of  a  world  ?  To-day  a  pleasant  one  ;  to- 
morrow just  the  contrary.  And  yet  really  the  world  itself  is  just 
the  same  every  day.  It's  only  the  complaining,  grumbling,  un- 
grateful inhabitants  who  fancy  it  different.  The  real  difference 
being  in  their  ever-changing,  ever-discontented  selves. 

I  can't  realize  that  I  am  going  home  (she  writes  at  the  end 
of  a  pleasant  round  of  visits).  It  is  too  delightful !  "The  day 
after  the  day  after  to-morrow  ! "  I  can  say  that  now.  And  to- 
morrow I  can  say,  "  The  day  after  to-morrow,"  and  the  next  day, 
"  To-morrow,"  and  the  next  day,  "  To-day."  Fancy  being  able  to 
say,  "  This  evening  I  shall  be  home  !  "  Oh,  fancy  it !  How  ex- 
quisite the  dear  church  will  seem  !  How  pretty  the  little  boys 
will  look  ;  how  familiar  the  dear  old  blue  cloaks  !  And  how  lovely 
it  will  be,  sitting  and  standing  and  kneeling  between  you  and 
mamma  on  Friday  evening  at  7.30,  at  home  again  ! 

And  again,  later  on,  when  away  from  home  : 

How  I  long  to  be  at  home,  especially  on  Sundays.  Dear 
lovely  Newland,  and  dearest,  loveliest  St.  Leonard's  !  I  can  fancy 
how  beautiful  it  looks.  The  more  I  go  to  other  places  and  to 
other  churches,  the  more  I  feel  there  is  no  church  so  perfect  in 
its  way  as  our  church  at  home.  It  almost  makes  me  frightened 
to  think  how  much  we  have  to  answer  for ;  I  wonder  if  great 
privileges  do   one  as  much  good  as  they  do  harm;  I  am  sure 

S 


258  EASTER  SERVICES. 

sometimes  they  seem  to  do  harm.  One  is  apt  to  think  lightly  of 
them,  and  to  get  careless.  And  then  it  frightens  me  to  think  of 
the  awful  responsibility  that  rests  upon  us,  especially  we  who  have 
hardly  known  what  it  is  to  be  without  the  weekly  celebration 
since  we  were  confirmed.  O,  how  often  have  I  been  told  that 
after  my  confirmation  I  should  have  far  greater  temptations,  and 
also  far  greater  grace  to  resist  them  j  and  how  true  it  is  !  I  know 
and  feel  what  a  great  help  all  our  privileges  are,  and  I  know,  too, 
how  little  we  should  be  without  them.  It  is  not  ourselves  ;  it  is 
God  who  helps  us  and  makes  us  resist  temptations,  and  without 
Him  we  would  be  nothing. 

On  Easter  Day,  1866,  she  wrote  : 

Certainly  the  church  looks  perfect.  I  don't  think  it  ever 
looked  so  well ;  but  as  we  say  that  every  time,  perhaps  you  will 
not  believe  it.  But  to  begin  at  the  beginning.  You  can  fancy 
with  what  excited  feelings  I  woke  on  Saturday  morning,  and  the 
sobering  effect  my  entrance  into  church  had  upon  me — the  sad 
plain  service  and  the  black  altar-hangings  showing  that  Easter 
had  not  come  yet.  Then  there  was  the  quiet  eleven  o'clock 
service,  and  one  of  papa's  restifig  sermons ;  and  after  that,  work. 

She  describes  the  flowers  and  decorations  at  loving 
length,  dwelling  especially  on  her  own  peculiar  work,  the 
font  decorations  : 

I  was  enchanted  with  the  effect  of  it  when  finished,  and,  of 
course,  claimed  admiration  from  all  in  turn.  Can't  you  fancy  it  ? 
Mamma's  quick  little  nod,  and  "  Very  nice  !  "  K 's  half-criti- 
cizing praise  and  grave,  quiet  looks  ;  M 's  suggestions  and  very 

moderate- Yes."  O,  how  exquisite  the  service  was!  And  the 
processional  hymn  was  perfect.  The  choir  did  not  come  in  at 
the  north  door,  so  the  voices  kept  in  tune  with  the  organ,  and 
they  did  sing  splendidly — those  high  notes  ringing  out  and  coming 
nearer  and  nearer.  I  felt  overcome,  and  half  cried  with  excite- 
ment. And  we  heard  "  The  strain  upraise  "  most  joyfully  sung, 
and  after  the  sermon,  "  Sing  we  Alleluia,"  and  then  the  blessing. 


FAILURE   OF  HEALTH.  259 

Very  tired,  of  course,  we  were  when  we  at  last  assembled  for  supper. 
I  was  quite  lame  with  fatigue,  but  went  soon  to  bed,  feeling  very 
happy,  of  course,  though  dead  tired.  And  then  the  next  morning 
— the  lovely  quiet  early  service,  and  the  church  looking  heavenly 
in  the  early  morning  light !  All  that  you  must  fancy  for  yourself. 
It  was  a  lovely  morning,  bright  sun,  and  Easter  joy  pervading 
everywhere. 

Her  mother  writes  of  her  at  this  time  (1867)  : 

She  was  not  in  strong  health  when  we  received  the  tidings  of 
her  dear  uncle's  death.  Next  to  her  own  parents,  she  loved  him 
most  on  earth,  and  her  own  sorrow  and  that  of  her  sister-cousins 
seemed  to  be  more  than  her  tender  heart  could  bear.  I  date  her 
illness  now  from  that  event,  although  at  the  time  we  did  not  feel 
in  the  least  alarmed  at  her  state.  In  June  I  took  her  to  Clevedon 
for  a  change,  hoping  that  sea  air  might  strengthen  her.  At  the 
same  time  her  father  went  for  a  rest  and  holiday  with  his  brother 
Charles  to  Paris.  Both  returned  home  the  better,  and  as  the 
doctor  who  saw  my  dear  child  at  Bristol  assured  us  there  was  no 
cause  for  alarm  in  her  case,  I  had  every  hope  that  she  would  soon 
be  quite  restored. 

In  August  James  and  I  and  the  three  girls  went  abroad.  We 
were  six  weeks  on  the  Continent.  This  little  tour  had  been 
recommended  as  the  best  thing  for  dear  Aggie,  and  good  for  her 
father  and  the  other  girls.  But  I  doubt  now  if  it  was  a  wise  thing. 
The  darling  often  got  knocked  up,  though  we  did  everything  to 
prevent  that.  She  was  very  poorly  when  we  returned  to  Newland 
the  first  week  in  October.  But  she  rallied  considerably  soon  after 
her  return,  though  after  a  little  time  she  fell  back  again. 

Once,  when  eleven  years  old,  she  drew  on  her  slate  a 
little  tombstone,  and  in,  as  it  were,  a  fit  of  abstraction  put 
her  name  on  it,  and  added  the  date  1868.  She  says  when 
about  fifteen  : 

I  always  had  a  presentiment  when  quite  a  child  that  I  should 
not  live  to  be  twenty.     If  I  do  die  young,  I  trust  I  shall  be  ready. 


260  LENTEN  HYMNS. 

Don't  think  I  wish  to  die,  sometimes  the  thought  is  very  terrible 
to  me.  And  don't  think  that  I  fancy  I  am  going  to  die ;  for, 
humanly  speaking,  I  don't  think  there  is  a  chance  of  that  at 
present.     It  would  be  almost  beautiful  to  think  of  dying  here,  and 

being  buried  here.     O,  dearest ,  pray  for  me,  lest  the  fear  of 

death  fall  upon  me.  I  think  perhaps  that  sickness  will  be  my 
trial  in  life,  for  everything  is  so  happy.  And  then  I  can't  be  un- 
happy, because  "  whom  the  Lord  loveth  He  chasteneth,"  and  I 
have  had  no  sorrows  yet.  But  it  is  all  in  God's  hands,  not  in 
mine;  His  will  be  done.  God  will  give  me  strength  to  bear 
whatever  it  may  be  His  will  to  send  me,  be  it  illness,  death,  or 
service.  .  .  .  You  will  care  if  I  die,  I  know.  But  you  must  not 
grieve  too  much  :  it  is  only  for  a  very  little  time,  and  then  no 
parting,  no  tears ;  all  joy  and  happiness  together,  and  with  Jesus. 

During  Lent,  1 86y,  her  last,  she  wrote  : 

We  have  been  having  the  hymn,  "  Christian,  dost  thou  see 
them,"  pretty  often  lately.  We  sang  it  this  morning;  I  grow 
fonder  of  it  every  day,  I  think.  I  am  so  glad  when  the  fourth  of 
the  miscellaneous  hymns  is  given  out.  Then  I  shut  my  book,  put 
my  hands  into  my  muff,  and  face  the  window,  so  as  to  turn  away 
from  every  one  and  prepare  to  enjoy  it.  And  they  sing  it  as  if 
they  really  enter  into  it.  "  Christian,  answer  boldly,"  etc.  And  I 
like  the  Gloria  at  the  end,  for  it  seems  like  thanking  God  for  those 
lovely  comforting  words  in  the  last  verse.  Don't  you  think  so  ? 
You  see,  I  am  very  full  of  hymns  just  now.  I  hope  we  shall  have 
"  Christian  "  very  often  next  week,  and  then  it  won't  come  again 
for  a  year. 

She  was  in  good  health  and  remarkable  for  her  fresh 
and  joyous  spirits  when  she  wrote  this,  but  the  subject  of 
death  seemed  present  to  her  mind  in  her  happiest  and  most 
light-hearted  days.  It  was  soon  after  Easter,  1867,  that 
Agnes  was  taken  ill ;  she  had  not  previously  appeared  out 
of   health.     Her  strength  seemed   quite  suddenly  to  give 


SUNSET  AT  CLEVEDON.  26 1 

way.  One  morning  (May  17),  when  at  her  prayers,  she  was 
seized  with  faintness.  She  was  laid  upon  her  bed,  and  it 
was  several  days  before  she  left  it ;  this  was  certainly  the 
beginning  of  the  end  ;  for,  although  she  appeared  entirely 
to  rally  from  the  attack,  she  never  was  the  same  afterwards, 
either  in  health  of  body  or  elasticity  of  spirits. 

Her  letters  in  1867  are  seldom  as  bright  as  her  former 
ones.  They  are  often  much  shorter,  and  contain  little 
allusions  to  the  failing  state  of  her  health.  Once  she  com- 
plains that  her  voice  gets  weak  ;  she  becomes  exhausted 
trying  to  sing  in  church,  and  expresses  an  unusual  wish  for 
her — "  I  wish  I  were  going  to  the  seaside  to  pick  up  my 
strength  a  little.     I  long  to  go  away." 

In  a  letter  from  Clevedon,  where  her  mother  had  taken 
her  in  June,  1867,  she  says — 

The  sunsets  here  are  so  wonderfully  beautiful.  I  never  saw 
anything  like  them,  I  am  writing  at  the  window,  and  as  I  look 
up  I  see  such  a  lovely  sight,  I  wish  I  had  your  pen  to  describe 
it.  The  sun  just  peeping  out  between  some  dark  clouds,  and  the 
red  light  over  the  sky,  and  the  golden  glimmer  on  the  blue  sea. 
It  is  not  sunset  yet,  but  the  clouds  are  getting  ready  to  receive  the 
sun.  The  sunset  here  makes  me  think  of  heaven  ;  it  does  look 
as  if  heaven  were  behind  those  clouds,  and  we  were  just  allowed 
to  have  a  sort  of  reflection  of  the  light  and  glory  there.  And  the 
golden  path  on  the  waters  getting  brighter  and  brighter  as  it  gets 
near  the  light,  seems  like  that  narrow  path  we  have  to  tread,  with 
the  water  around  us  and  beneath  us,  into  which  one  might  so 
easily  fall.  I  love  the  sunset  and  the  thoughts  it  brings.  Only 
then  the  sun  sets,  and  the  light  grows  dimmer,  and  night  comes 
on,  and  it  seems  all  over,  and  heaven  shut  out.  But  of  course  it 
is  there  all  the  same,  though  we  cannot  see  it.  I  am  sorry  when 
the  red  clouds  get  dark  and  black,  and  the  little  golden  windows 
(the  windows  of  heaven)  fade  away. 


262  TOUR  IN  SWITZERLAND. 

In  this  letter  she  also  alludes  to  some  thoughts  of  special 
awe  which  come  across  her  mind  at  the  word  "  eternity," 
or  "  for  ever  and  ever,"  and  also  speaks  of  her  death,  saying 
"  it  may  be  near." 

In  the  beginning  of  August,  1867,  she  writes  that  she  is 
going  abroad  with  her  parents  and  cousins — a  thing  she 
had  often  longed  to  do  ;  but  now  she  dreads  the  journey, 
and  fears  she  will  be  knocked  up.  "  I  am  beginning  to 
regret  leaving  the  church  and'  everything  here  for  so  long," 
she  writes.    "  I  wonder  if  we  shall  ever  come  back  ?" 

No  one,  however,  but  the  friend  to  whom  she  wrote 
these  letters,  was  aware  of  these  occasional  feelings  of 
depression  and  disinclination  for  the  exertion  of  travelling. 
That  they  were  but  occasional  is  certain,  as  she  was  fre- 
quently enthusiastic  in  her  expressions  of  pleasure  at  the 
anticipation  of  visiting  Switzerland  and  the  places  of  in- 
terest which  it  was  proposed  to  take  en  route.  And  that 
she  was  able  to  enjoy  these  seven  weeks  on  the  Continent  is 
shown  by  the  diary  she  kept  during  the  time. 

When  she  first  returned  home  her  health  seemed  much 
improved,  and  she  often  spoke  of  the  delight  of  "  feeling 
well  again."  Upon  the  return  of  this  short-lived  strength 
she  became  very  anxious  to  get  out  of  invalid  habits — "  self- 
indulgent,"  she  called  them  ;  and  she  made  out  a  little  table 
for  the  profitable  employment  of  her  time,  assigning  some- 
thing to  every  hour  in  the  day.  She  recommenced  study- 
ing Latin,  and  began  translating  the  Psalms  into  Latin. 

Her  health  began  to  fail  again  about  the  middle  of 
November.  She  then  writes  sadly  at  being  obliged  to 
give  up  going  to  the  early  service,  and  at  again  having  to 
"  nurse  and  take  care  of  herself."     In  one  letter  she  says — 


LAST  CHRISTMAS.  263 

Dr.  has  given  me  leave  to  go  to  church  next  Friday,  so 

I  am  very  happy  on  that  score.  I  mean  to  rest  all  the  morning 
of  St.  Andrew's  Day,  and  so  be  able  to  go  to  the  Confirmation, 
which  will  be  in  the  afternoon.  And  then  on  Sunday  I  am  going 
to  the  Celebration,  so  you  see  I  have  quite  a  feast  of  services 
before  me.  It  seems  so  long  since  I  went  to  church ;  I  hope  it 
won't  knock  me  up,  but  I  mean  to  keep  quite  quiet  till  Friday. 

These  days  of  weakness  seemed  long  and  wearisome  to 
her  sometimes,  and  once  she  touchingly  complains,  "  I  am 
afraid  of  wishing  the  time  away ;  that  is  so  wrong."  The 
depression  arising  from  weakness  troubled  her  too.  About 
Christmas  time  she  was  brighter,  and  was  very  anxious  to 
assist  in  the  church  decorations.  Some  easy  work  was 
brought  to  her  sofa,  and  she  got  quite  cheerful  and  happy 
over  it ;  but  even  then  she  missed  the  elastic  spring  of  her 
old  spirits,  and  "  wondered  she  could  not  feel  so  glad  of  any- 
thing as  she  used  to  be."  There  was  a  strange  intense 
thoughtfulness  in  the  expression  of  her  face  about  this  time  ; 
her  eyes  had  a  peculiar  look,  as  if  gazing  at  something  far 
off.  She  occasionally  talked  much  of  those  dear  to  her 
who  were  resting  in  Paradise :  "  O  for  one  word  with 
them  !  "  she  once  said,  "  the  silence  is  too  intense." 

But  at  times  she  was  quite  bright  and  like  herself  again, 
and  so  late  as  the  2nd  of  January,  1868,  she  took  part,  at 
her  own  desire,  in  a  concert  given  to  the  poor  people,  played 
beautifully,  and  went  about  among  them,  as  bright  and  as 
interested  in  all  that  was  going  on  as  ever.  She  was  a 
great  favourite  among  the  old  pensioners,  and  often  have 
they  since  alluded  to  that  evening  she  spent  amongst  them, 
just  five  short  weeks  before  she  was  taken  away. 

Her  father  wrote,  on  January  14,  to  a  friend  at  whose 
marriage  he  had  promised  to  officiate  : 


264  ILLNESS. 

I  hope  nothing  may  come  in  the  way  of  my  getting  to  Fritten- 
den  on  the  21st  or  the  22nd,  but  I  am  in  great  anxiety  about  my 

child.     Dr. has  seen  her  and  pronounced  her  lungs  far  gone 

in  destruction  ;  one  nearly  gone,  and  the  other  following,  and  all 
embarrassed  by  utter  disorder  in  the  digestive  organs.  All  this  is 
extremely  grave,  and  I  know  not  what  to  hope  for.  I  do,  most 
heartily  and  fully,  resign  her  and  myself  to  God's  will.     But  she  is 

my  only  one,  and  very  dear.     Yet,  what  of  that, ,  if  there  be 

the  eternal  union  in  Him  to  live  on  already,  and  to  long  for  and 
rejoice  in  hereafter  ?    You  will  not  forget  us  in  your  prayers. 

To  the  same  friend  he  wrote  on  the  28th  : 

Alas  !  alas  !  my  dear  Sidney,  my  darling  continues  to  be  in  ex- 
treme danger,  and  though  God  can  do  all  things,  and  even  restore 
her  to  me  in  this  life,  yet  I  feel  a  strong  conviction  that  I  am  now 
under  the  chastening  trial  of  preparing  to  lose  this  sweet  light  of 
my  eyes  out  of  sight.  My  dear  wife  was  most  considerate,  and 
did  nothing  to  alarm  me  when  at  Frittenden,  though  I  could  not 
but  be  anxious  enough.  But  I  returned  to  find  the  precious 
invalid  entirely  confined  to  bed,  and  in  a  raging  fever,  which  must, 
if  it  had  continued,  have  cut  her  off  in  the  course  of  Sunday. 
She  is  a  little  bit  better  to-day,  but  nothing  to  speak  of  or  build 
on ;  rather  the  negative  state  of  "  not  worse,"  than  anything  in 
advance.     Pray  for  us. 

It  was  the  9th  of  January,  the  anniversary  of  her  dear 
uncle's  death,  that  Agnes  went  to  her  beloved  church  for 
the  last  time.  She  then  received  the  blessed  Sacrament. 
After  that  she  became  rapidly  weaker.  On  the  20th  of 
January  she  came  downstairs  for  the  last  time,  and  after 
the  23rd  was  entirely  confined  to  bed.  On  the  21st  (St. 
Agnes'  Day)  she  remembered  the  date,  and  tried  to  per- 
suade her  mother  to  leave  her  and  go  to  church  "  because 
it  was  St.  Agnes'  Day." 

It  was  on  the  20th  that  her  father  spoke  to  her  of  the 


FEAR   OF  DEATH.  265 

dangerous  nature  of  her  illness,  and  told  her  that  the  chances 
were  against  her  recovery.  When  he  broke  this  to  her,  she 
seemed  much  agitated,  and  spoke  of  "  not  wishing  to  die 
yet."  "  This  world,"  she  said,  "  is  real  to  me  ;  the  other  is 
such  a  mystery,  so  unreal."  Soon  afterwards,  when  her 
mother  told  her  that  her  father  was  coming  to  sit  with  her, 
she  said  in  an  anxious,  nervous  way,  "Ask  him  not  to 
speak  to  me  of  that  again  ;  it  makes  my  heart  thump."  And 
when  speaking  to  her  cousin  the  same  day  she  appeared 
agitated,  and  said  with  tears,  "  Papa  thinks  I  shall  not  get 
well  again."  The  next  day  her  father  had  a  Celebration  for 
her,  and  it  was  remarkable  that  from  that  time  it  never 
again  appeared  trying  to  her  to  have  the  prospect  of  her 
death  alluded  to.  She  now  asked  her  father  to  write  to 
Ditchingham  and  ask  for  the  prayers  of  the  Church. 

During  the  night  of  the  28th  of  January,  she  spoke  to 
her  mother  (who  was  keeping  watch  alone  with  her)  of 
many  little  matters  which  were  on  her  mind.  She  thought 
of  her  little  pet  God-child,  Ada,  and  she  begged  her  mother 
not  to  forget  her ;  she  seemed  to  try  that  night  to  remem- 
ber all  she  wished  to  say  to  her  mother,  and  then  asked 
her  to  read  the  ninety-first  psalm. 

The  following  night  she  said  to  one  of  her  attendants  in 
a  very  calm,  quiet  way,  "  You  know  that  perhaps  I  shall 
die,"  or  words  to  that  effect.  And  upon  being  asked 
whether  she  would  rather  die  or  live,  she  said  unhesitatingly 
that  she  would  rather  live,  adding,  "  Is  that  wrong  ?  "  But 
in  a  very  short  time  (in  answer,  no  doubt,  to  prayer)  a 
complete  change  came  over  her  feelings  in  this  respect. 
She  spoke  frequently  to  her  father  of  the  prospect  of  her 
death,  and  constantly  expressed  a  hope  that  "  she  should 


266  PEACE. 

not  be  afraid."  "  Ask  everybody,"  she  said,  "  to  pray  that 
I  may  not  be  afraid."  Another  doctor  was  called  in,  and 
on  her  mother  telling  her  that  it  was  not  because  they 
thought  he  could  make  her  well  again,  she  fervently  ex- 
claimed, "  Oh,  I  hope  not ;  I  trust  not     I  long  to  go  !  " 

On  the  30th  the  Holy  Communion  was  offered  for  her 
in  church.  In  the  afternoon  of  that  day  the  little  choir- 
boys, at  her  father's  suggestion,  and  her  own  joyful  acquies- 
cence, came  into  the  house  to  sing  her  favourite  hymns  for 
her,  standing  in  the  hall  downstairs,  where  she  might  hear 
them  without  effort.  She  had  previously  made  her  own 
selection  from  the  hymn-book  used  in  her  dear  church. 
"Those  eternal  bowers;"  "Jesu,  the  Virgins'  Crown  art 
Thou  ; "  "  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee  ;  "  "  Christian,  dost  thou 
see  them  ;  "  "Jerusalem  the  golden." 

During  the  day,  at  intervals,  she  mentioned  several  little 
things  she  would  wish  to  be  done  "after  she  was  gone." 
She  begged  one  of  her  sister-cousins  to  become  an 
associate  of  Ditchingham  in  her  place.  "  Take  the  money," 
she  said  ;  "  you  will  work  better  than  I  have."  To  this 
same  cousin  she  said,  "  Be  a  daughter  to  mamma.  Poor 
little  mother  !  "  She  was  asked  whether  she  wished  to  have 
her  pocket-money  sent  to  Ditchingham.  "  Oh  no,"  she 
answered  readily ;  "  I  have  fixed  about  that ;  there  is 
sure  to  be  a  Celebration  at  my  funeral  ;  I  should  like  all 
you  find  to  be  put  into  the  offertory." 

Each  morning  from  the  31st  of  January  to  the  last, 
there  was  a  private  Celebration  for  her.  When  she  became 
too  weak  to  bear  it  in  her  room,  it  was  held  in  the  adjoining 
one,  and  the  blessed  Sacrament  brought  to  her.  And  who, 
among  the  privileged  two  or  three  who  knelt  by  the  dying 


LAST  COMMUNIONS.  267 

saint's  side  to  receive  with  her  the  Bread  of  Life,  can  ever 
forget  that  ardent,  longing  look,  as  from  time  to  time  she 
opened  her  languid  eyes  and  gazed  towards  the  door,  feel- 
ing the  moment  approaching  for  her  Lord  and  Saviour  to 
be  brought  to  her  ? 

During  these  last  few  days  her  cough  had  been  very, 
racking  and  constant,  and  she  suffered  much.  But  her 
mind  was  always  perfectly  clear  and  peaceful,  and  she 
seemed  ever  to  be  thinking  of  her  place  of  rest.  "I 
wonder  what  language  they  speak  in  Paradise  ?  "  she  once 
said.     "  Oh,  how  lovely  it  will  be  !  " 

Her  sick-room  was  a  haven  of  patient  expectation. 
She  was  so  calm  and  peaceful  that  her  quietness  communi- 
cated itself  to  all  around.  Her  beautiful  eyes  shone  with 
a  light  that  was  not  of  this  earth  ;  in  spite  of  weariness 
and  weakness,  her  face,  as  her  father  one  day  remarked, 
"seemed  positively  shining  with  grace."  There  was  an 
atmosphere  of  quiet  waiting  in  that  room  ;  no  sign  of  con- 
fused distress  ;  no  stifling  of  a  growing  apprehension  ;  no 
fear  of  uttering  the  great  word  death,  which  in  too  many 
cases  add  intensely  to  the  trial  and  sorrow  of  such  seasons. 
This  was  an  indescribably  tender  and  touching  time — 
beautiful,  unearthly ;  in  many  ways  heart-breaking,  and 
yet  full  of  comfort.  Each  morning  CHRIST  was  there,  and 
afterwards  we  felt  how  truly  she  "  had  been  with  Jesus." 

In  former  days  a  fond  embrace,  a  tender,  touching  word, 
from  those  she  deeply  loved  would  move  her  at  once  to 
tears.  But  now,  she  saw  her  mother  weep,  heard  her  loving 
parting  words,  and  only  fixed  upon  her  a  calm,  tender  gaze, 
a  sort  of  all-comprehending  look,  that  seemed  to  penetrate 
to  the  very  borders  of  the  land  "  that  is  very  far  away." 


268  SUFFERING. 

"  Dearest  little  mother,  precious  little  mother ! "  she  often 
said,  and  with  inexpressible  fondness  ;  but  it  was  with  tear- 
less eyes,  and  with  none  of  the  dread  which  had  once 
haunted  her  of  what  that  mother  would  suffer  in  losing  her. 

On  the  Feast  of  the  Purification  (the  Sunday  before  her 
death)  her  father  said  to  her  that  he  was  going  into  church 
when  the  bell  rang  for  the  high  celebration.  "  I'm  glad 
you  are,  darling,"  she  replied.  Then  he  told  her  he  would 
pray  all  her  prayers  for  her.  "  I  know,"  he  said,  "  all  that 
is  in  your  heart  of  hearts  to  ask  for,  and  I  will  ask  in  your 
stead."  "  Thank  you,  darling,"  she  said,  "  pray  that  I  may 
have  peace  when  the  time  comes."  Towards  the  evening 
she  revived  a  little,  and  one  of  her  boy  cousins  was  allowed 
to  see  her.  He  said  to  her,  "  I  know  you  are  happy, 
Aggie."  She  smiled  one  of  the  beautiful  smiles  that  used 
to  come  slowly  on  her  parched  lips,  and  said,  "  Yes — at 
least,  I  hope  so." 

On  Tuesday,  the  4th,  she  slept  a  good  deal,  but  several 
times  woke  herself  trying  to  sing.  Once,  upon  waking 
thus  suddenly,  she  said  (smiling  as  if  amused  at  herself), 
"I  can't  sing  yet.  I  thought  I  was  singing  *  Those  eternal 
bowers.' '  She  was  very  suffering  and  weary  towards  the 
evening  of  this  day,  and  pained  with  lying  on  one  side, 
which  was  getting  very  sore  ;  but  it  was  the  only  position 
in  which  she  could  rest  at  all.  She  said  to  her  father,  "  I 
thought  it  would  not  be  so  long ;  it  is  very  long."  He 
spoke  to  her  of  Job's  experience,  and  of  the  patience  of  our 
Lord,  and  of  His  prayer.  "  Dear  papa,"  she  said,  "  how 
fortunate  I  am  to  have  you  and  the  others  !  God  is  very 
good  to  me.     He  gave  me  a  good  night  last  night" 

That  afternoon  she  thanked  the  servants  for  their  kind- 


THE  LAST  NIGHT  269 

ness,  and  wished  to  say  "  good-bye  "  to  two  of  them.  They 
took  her  hand  respectfully,  but  she  made  an  effort  to  raise 
herself  to  kiss  them. 

The  next  day — her  last  on  earth — she  was  much  ex- 
hausted, and  could  hardly  keep  from  falling  asleep  during 
the  Celebration  ;  later  in  the  day  she  suffered  much  from 
cough  and  restlessness,  and  especially  from  pain  caused  by 
the  soreness  of  lying  on  one  side.  But  she  tried  to  make 
light  of  it,  and  to  be  not  only  patient,  but  cheerful.  "  No 
matter,"  she  said,  as  one  after  another  tried  to  arrange  her 
pillows  and  bed  ;  "  I  have  made  up  my  mind  not  to  be  com- 
fortable." She  asked  for  some  flowers  which  one  of  her 
cousins  had  brought  her  the  day  before,  and  expressed  great 
regret  on  finding  they  were  withered :  we  remembered 
this,  because  that  little  bunch  of  spring  flowers  was  the  last 
earthly  thing  that  gave  her  pleasure. 

Towards  the  evening  of  this  last  day  she  seemed  to 
revive  somewhat,  and  the  doctor  who  saw  her  about  five 
o'clock  pronounced  her  pulse  and  symptoms  better  than 
the  day  before  ;  the  servants,  therefore,  and  others  who  had 
shared  the  watching  were  this  night  sent  to  bed,  and  the 
child  was  left  alone  with  her  father  and  mother,  who  took  it 
in  turn  to  sit  by  her  side.  She  did  not  sleep,  and  at  times 
was  very  restless  and  suffering,  but  her  mind  perfectly  clear 
and  peaceful.  "  Will  it  be  to-night  ? "  she  once  said  to  her 
mother.  "  Oh,  how  beautiful  if  it  would  come  to-night !  " 
This  she  said  several  times,  interspersing  such  longing 
aspirations  with  caressing  words  to  her  mother.  "  Oh,  I 
hope  it  won't  be  long,"  she  again  said  ;  "  I  am  so  restless." 
"  You  will  soon  be  at  rest,  my  darling,"  her  mother  replied. 

During  this  night,  in  which  she  was  left  alone  with  her 


270  THE  BRIDEGROOM'S  CALL. 

father  and  mother,  she  seemed  to  feel  herself  taking  leave 
of  them,  and  asked  them  to  forgive  her  all  that  she  had 
done  wrong  to  them.  Hard  indeed  would  it  have  been  to 
say  what  there  was  to  pardon  ! 

But  now  the  end  was  fast  approaching.  It  was  about 
half-past  one  on  Thursday  morning,  February  6,  that  her 
parents  saw  the  change  in  her,  and  the  others  accustomed 
to  watch  by  her  bedside  were  called  up.  "  There  was  a 
cry  made ; "  the  Bridegroom  was  indeed  coming  to  her 
whose  lamp  was  so  brightly  burning  to  welcome  Him. 
Yet  it  was  with  that  sense  of  terror  which  she  seems  to 
have  foreboded  that  she  entered  the  shadowy  valley  of 
death. 

It  would  not  be  well,  even  were  it  possible,  to  write 
down  what  passed  at  that  most  trying  time  ;  when  the 
dear  sufferer,  heedless  of  our  presence,  turned  to  her  father 
as  priest  and  absolver,  to  seek  the  comfort  she  had  never 
sought  in  vain.  The  struggle  was  a  short  one  ;  not  attended 
by  bodily  suffering  :  it  was  but  that  holy  soul's  last  wrestling 
with  the  burdens  of  earth,  and  casting  off  all  that  fettered 
it  as  it  passed  "  within  the  veil."  Never,  never  shall  we 
lose  the  sound  of  her  sweet  ringing  voice  calling  in  those 
last  moments  with  supernatural  strength  upon  the  holy 
Name  :  "  Jesus  !  Jesus  !  I  cling  to  Thee  !  save  me,  save  me  !  " 
and  at  the  last,  "  Into  Thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit,  for 
Thou  hast  redeemed  me." 

We  would  not,  we  cannot  speak  more  of  those  moments. 
We  can  only  pour  out  the  thoughts  that  flow  from  those 
memories  before  Him  who,  in  His  everlasting  love,  per- 
mitted His  child  thus  to  drink  of  the  cup  He  drank  of. 

It   was  over — the   sweet   eyes   were   closed,  upon    the 


REST.  27 1 

wearied  face  there  dawned  the  smile  of  endless  peace,  the 
rest  she  had  longed  for  was  hers  at  last  and  for  evermore. 
In  her  own  little  room,  draped  with  white,  and  looking 
like  a  sanctuary  with  its  sacred  pictures  and  emblems,  we 
watched  all  that  was  mortal  of  our  dear  one.  A  little  altar 
(from  which  she  had  last  received  the  Bread  of  angels) 
stood  at  the  foot  of  the  bed  ;  and  on  it  burned,  night  and 
day,  two  wax-lights.  The  whole  room  looked  holy  ;  and 
O,  the  lovely  peace  of  that  resting-face,  and  of  the  two 
fair  hands  across  the  breast,  clasping  her  little  cross.  We 
knew,  as  we  stood  gazing  on  her  form,  that  there  was  "  the 
rest  for  ever,  and  the  rapture,  and  the  Hand  that  wipes 
all  tears  away." 

A  great  calmness  came  over  the  bereaved  household  ; 
all  seemed  as  if  listening  to  catch  some  sound  from  the 
far-off  golden  shore  to  which  that  happy  soul  had  fled. 
Many  asked  to  look  upon  her  face  once  more.  The 
school-children  came,  and  many  mothers  also  ;  little  Ada, 
too,  and  other  children  ;  and  the  sun  shone  in  through  the 
closed  curtains  every  day  upon  the  snowdrops,  violets,  and 
other  spring  flowers,  which  many  loving  hands  brought 
daily  to  add  to  the  sacred  beauty  of  that  room. 

The  day  of  the  funeral,  Wednesday,  February  12, 
was  very  bright  and  beautiful,  and  warm  as  May.  Every 
part  of  the  Office  for  the  Burial  of  the  Dead  was  so  con- 
sistently rendered  at  St.  Leonard's,  that  none  of  its  comfort 
and  beauty  was  lost.  A  cross  in  white  metal,  shining  like 
silver,  stretched  nearly  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the 
coffin,  and  round  the  edge  were  these  words  :  "  All  that  is 
mortal  of  Agnes  Raymond  Skinner;  who  fell  asleep  in 
Christ,  Thursday,  February  6,  1868,  in  the  faith  and  fear 


272  BURIAL. 

of  God.  Amen.  Aged  18."  The  pall,  of  violet  and  white 
and  red,  was  the  same  which,  two  years  before,  had  covered 
the  remains  of  the  Rev.  John  Keble.  The  service  was 
choral,  and  the  psalms  and  hymns  spoke  of  her  to  the 
hearts  of  the  mourners  as  nothing  else  could. 

As  we  followed  to  the  grave,  the  choir  sang  the  hundred 
and  twentieth  to  the  hundred  and  twenty-sixth  Psalms,  and 
by  the  side  of  the  grave  the  Easter  hymn,  "  Jesus  lives," 
was  sung.  Then  the  mourners,  each  in  turn,  came  forward 
and  placed  on  the  coffin  an  offering  of  flowers,  until  it  was 
completely  covered  with  white  camellias,  azalias,  hyacinths, 
and  snowdrops,  and  then  it  was  lowered  into  the  grave. 

Although  the  burial-ground  was  crowded  with  persons, 
the  perfect  stillness  was  remarkable.  Not  a  sound  could 
be  heard,  after  the  final  "  Amen  "  of  the  service,  but  the 
singing  of  birds  in  the  tree  which  overhangs  the  grave, 
rejoicing  in  the  bright  sunshine  of  that  warm  February  day, 
seeming  to  thank  God  that  "the  winter  was  past,  the 
rain  over  and  gone." 

We  returned  home  through  the  garden  where  she  used 
to  play,  and  so  into  the  quadrangle,  the  choir  singing 
"  Jerusalem  the  golden." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

LITERARY   WORK, 
i 868-1870. 

"  How  is  it  with  the  child  ?  'tis  well. 
Nor  would  I  any  miracle 
Might  stir  my  sleeper's  tranquil  trance, 
Or  plague  her  painless  countenance. 
I  would  not  any  seer  might  place 
His  staff  on  my  immortal's  face, 
Or,  lip  to  lip,  and  eye  to  eye, 
Call  back  her  pale  mortality." 

ONE  letter  must  be  given,  amongst  the  many  received  by 
the  bereaved  father,  for  the  sake  of  him  who  wrote  it : 

New  Lodge,  Windsor  Forest,  February  11,  1S68. 

My  dear  Skinner, 

I  read  in  the  paper  "only  and  beloved,"  and  my  heart 
sank  within  me.  May  the  All-Merciful  and  Almighty  God  uphold 
you.  Verily  ye  have  need  of  His  arms,  and  they  can  hold  you 
up,  yea,  in  this  sore  strife  ;  on  this  mighty  tempest  He  can  breathe 
His  "  Peace,  be  still,"  and  there  shall  be  a  great  calm.  But, 
indeed,  my  heart  bleeds  for  you.  I  know  the  loss  of  the  best 
beloved,  of  the  eye  of  the  whole  picture  of  a  man's  life  here ; 
I  know  the  anguish  of  closing  the  eye  of  the  firstborn  in  his 
beauty  and  his  glory ;  and  I  know  how  the  heart  breaks  and 
crumbles.     But  I  know,  too,  how  He  can  hold  up  of  His  mere 

T 


2/4  LETTER  FROM  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE. 

pity  one  who  cannot,  dare  not,  claim  such  mercy ;  and  so  I  know 
how  far  more  he  will  hold  up  you.  May  His  consolations 
abound.     Many  have  prayed  for  you ;  amongst  them, 

Your  unworthy  friend, 

S.  Oxon. 

They  who  were  in  close  intercourse  at  this  time  with 
the  Vicar  of  Newland  speak  of  his  unreserved  submission, 
and  the  union  of  his  will  with  the  Divine  will,  as  something 
which  left  a  deep  impression  on  their  hearts.  He  had 
taught,  in  burning  words,  of  union  with  the  cross  of  Jesus 
as  the  Christian's  highest  blessing,  and  now,  "  by  purest 
pleasures  unbeguiled,  to  idolize  or  wife  or  child,"  he 
accepted,  with  absolute  resignation,  the  stern,  sweet  token 
of  his  Master's  love.  But  he  partly  broke  down  under  the 
strain,  and  was  quite  unfit  for  his  Lent  work.  It  was  taken 
by  the  Rev.  Euseby  Cleaver,  who  came  for  a  few  weeks  to 
the  Warden's  lodge,  lending  his  own  house  in  London,  not 
far  from  St.  Barnabas'  Church,  to  Mr.  Skinner.  There, 
and  at  All  Saints',  Margaret  Street,  he  occasionally  preached, 
and  took  part  in  the  services. 

To  his  mother  he  wrote : 

I  think  I  may  say  what  I  said  at  the  first,  that  this  little 
change  has  been  of  essential  service  to  me,  and,  I  think,  to  us  all. 
To  me  it  has  been  inexpressibly  blessed,  as  helping  me  to  bear  my 
sorrow  in  the  flesh,  through  much  sympathy  and  kindness  on  the 
part  of  friends ;  and  still  more,  as  enabling  me  more  and  more  to 
realize,  through  holy  and  continual  waiting  upon  the  means  of 
grace,  how  closely  we  are  united  to  those  who  are  gone  before, 
and  how  thankfully  we  recognize  their  greater  privilege  in  being 
taken  into  rest  before  us.  I  am  nearer  my  sweet  darling  virgin 
child  than  ever  I  was  on  earth,  through  that  union  with  Christ 
which  we  both  share,  and  which  is  more  and  more  vouchsafed  to 


DREAM  OF  PARADISE.  275 

us  in  its  blessing,  as  we  more  and  more  worship  and  adore  Him 
in  the  blessed  Eucharist. 

Mr.  Bennett  preached  last  Friday  on  "  Heaven,"  at  St.  Barna- 
bas'. I  felt  how  true  it  was  when  he  said  that  our  only  notion  (as 
certainly  our  first  notion)  of  the  bliss  and  glory  of  heaven  will  be 
found  in  our  joy  in  the  presence  of  Christ  in  the  blessed 
Eucharist.  I  hope  and  believe,  darling  mother,  that  this  fore- 
taste of  joy  and  strength  and  comfort  is  already  yours. 

I  had  a  great  blessing  vouchsafed  to  me  the  other  night.  I 
am  not  a  "  dreamer  of  dreams."  I  hardly  ever  have  one — whether 
from  unworthiness  of  holy  dreams,  or  from  natural  causes,  such  as 
soundness  of  sleep  and  silence  of  imagination,  I  cannot  tell.  Yet 
so  it  is  ;  I  never  dream — or  rarely. 

But  God  gave  me  a  vision  the  other  night,  just  for  a  moment, 
of  my  precious  darling  in  Paradise. 

I  thought  I  and  my  wife  were  carried,  we  knew  not  how,  over 
waters  of  intense  darkness  to  a  huge  and  inaccessible  rock,  which 
seemed  to  have  no  place  wherein  an  entrance  could  be  pierced. 
We  were  not  sailing  in  a  boat ;  there  was  nothing  like  the  motion 
of  the  sea  beneath  us.  It  was  water  or  air  or  atmosphere,  and 
darker  than  darkness;  but  swiftly  and  easily  and  pleasantly  we 
were  borne  over  it,  to  the  wall  of  the  great  rock.  And  then, 
where  most  unexpected,  we  penetrated  into  the  rock ;  and  found 
ourselves  in  a  vast  and  infinite  inner  court,  which  was  all  water  or 
air  beneath,  and  no  footing  for  mortal  foot,  only  we  were  borne 
on  whither  we  went.  Up  and  on  we  were  carried,  into  chambers 
and  places  filled  with  inhabitants  all  enjoying  each  other's 
society;  and  presently  we  were  attended  by  special  guides  or 
ministering  servants,  whose  office  seemed  to  be  to  wait  upon  the 
inmates,  who  conducted  us  to  where  our  darling  was.  I  saw  her, 
as  distinctly  as  I  ever  saw  her  in  life.  Exactly  the  same,  only 
flushed  with  a  lovely  colour,  and  without  a  speck  of  corruption ; 
surrounded,  as  I  thought,  by  flowers  and  birds,  which  she  said  she 
ever  caught  and  gathered,  and  which  never  died;  which  were 
always  fresh,  and  which  never  needed  to  be  renewed.  I  drew 
near  to  embrace  and  kiss  my  precious  one,  as  on  earth  I  was 


2/6  DAILY  CELEB  RATIO  X. 

wont  to  do.  I  did  kiss  her  (O,  such  an  unearthly  kiss  !) ;  and 
she  kissed  me  and  smiled  on  me  with  such  a  smile  of  unutterable 
bliss,  as  I  see  now,  to  my  comfort  and  my  joy,  and  will  see,  till 
I  am  privileged  (by  God's  mercy  if  He  will)  to  join  her.  But  I 
felt  that  my  lips  pressed  nothing,  and  my  arms  embraced  nothing. 
It  was  purely  spiritual ;  there  was  no  flesh  to  resist  or  respond. 
It  was  a  token  of  her  bliss  and  joy,  and  recognition  of  my  love,  a 
solace  to  my  sorrow,  an  earnest  of  my  hope,  a  succour  of  my  faith. 
I  bless  God  for  it. 

He  returned  home  for  Holy  Week,  and  took  up  again 
his  usual  work,  Celebrating  every  morning,  and  giving  the 
Three  Hours'  Meditation  on  Good  Friday.  Hitherto, 
since  the  opening  of  the  new  church,  there  had  been 
Celebrations  on  Sundays  and  holy  days,  in  Holy  Week 
and  Easter  week.  On  Low  Sunday  this  year,  the  vicar 
gave  notice  that  the  daily  Celebration  of  the  last  fortnight 
would  continue.  And  so  it  has,  thank  God  ;  from  that 
time  there  has  never  been  a  day  when  the  showing  forth  of 
the  Lord's  death  has  not  been  made  at  the  altar  of  New- 
land  Church. 

A  full  set  of  silk  Eucharistic  vestments  were  presented 
at  Easter  to  the  Vicar  of  Newland,  and  were  henceforth 
used  by  him,  without  the  least  opposition  either  from 
Bishop  or  parishioners.  He  had  written  to  the  latter  in 
his  yearly  pastoral  letter,  when  introducing  linen  vestments 
the  previous  Christmas : 

More  often  and  more  thoroughly  we  are  taught  the  truth 
which  is  contained  in  worship  by  the  act  of  worship  represented 
to  the  eye,  than  by  the  ablest  lecture  about  worship  communicated 
to  the  ear.  It  is  our  duty,  therefore,  to  teach  you  that  the  worship 
of  Christ  in  the  Holy  Communion  is  a  distinctively  higher  worship 
of  Him,  than  the  worship  of  Him  in  Morning  or  Evening  Prayer. 


USE   OF   VESTMENTS.  2J? 

And  we  are  bound  to  teach  you  this  fact  by  those  "ornaments  "  of 
the  church  and  of  the  minister  which  are  appointed  by  authority 
to  set  forth  that  distinction. 

I  have  not  hurried  you  rashly  into  the  presence  of  this  truth. 

I  began  in  the  old  church,  seven  years  ago,  with  such  few 
materials  as  I  had,  to  show  you  how  much  reverential  distinction 
is  due  to  the  Holy  Table,  or  altar,  upon  which  altar  the  commemo- 
rative sacrifice  of  Christ's  death  is  offered.  I  have  abstained  from 
all  danger  of  misleading  any,  by  hastily  reviving  the  proper  vest- 
ments of  the  person  of  the  priest,  before  I  had  won  you,  or,  at 
least,  had  done  my  best  to  win  you,  to  recognize  the  propriety 
of  vesting  and  adorning  the  altar,  of  which  the  priest  is  but  a  part. 

But  now  the  time  has  arrived  when  I  can  no  longer  keep  back 
the  fulness  of  the  Church's  witness  to  the  distinctive  greatness 
of  the  worship  of  Christ  in  the  Holy  Communion.  I  should  feel 
myself  guilty  of  treachery  to  the  true  English  Church  if  I  were  any 
longer  to  abstain  from  obeying  so  plain  an  injunction  as  the  use 
of  the  vestments  proper  to  the  celebration  of  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  I  have  therefore  begun  to  obey  the 
principle  of  the  Church's  law  at  Newland,  by  introducing  Eu- 
charistic  vestments  of  fine  linen  which  can  neither  cripple  our 
means  by  their  costliness,  nor  startle  us  by  their  colours. 

It  is  no  question  between  what  is  essential  and  what  is  not 
essential,  in  which  there  may  be  an  endless  diversity  of  opinion. 
The  one  and  only  question  is — first,  what  has  the  whole  of 
Christendom  agreed  to  require  ?  and,  second,  in  what  respect  has 
the  Church  of  England  the  power  or  the  will  to  set  aside  that 
which  the  whole  of  Christendom  requires  ? 

This  question  is  settled  for  you  and  for  me  by  the  law  of  the 
English  Church,  which  requires  me  to  wear  the  vestments  which 
were  "  in  this  Church  of  England  by  the  authority  of  Parliament, 
in  the  second  year  of  King  Edward  VI." 

The  second  year  of  Edward  VI.  was  the  year  1548-49.  I 
have  no  more  doubt  as  to  what  vestments  were  in  use  in  the 
English  Church  in  that  year  than  I  have  as  to  what  king  was  then 
sitting  on  the  English  throne.     But  if  I  had  any  doubt,  it  is  taken 


278  FRESCO  PAINTING. 

away  by  the  inventory  of  those  church  goods  (still  to  be  seen  in 
the   Public   Record  Office   in    London)    which    Edward's   Com- 
missioners found,  and  "  left  for  use  in  the   Church  "  of  Newland, 
as  late  as  the  sixth  year  of  his  reign — that  is,  in  1552-53. 
Let  me  give  you  the  list  of  "  vestments." — 

"  Capella  de  Newland. 

"  1  Cope  blue  satin  with  branches. 

"  1  Cope  of  green  crewel. 

"  1  Vestment  (chasuble)  of  red  satin  with  branches. . 

"  1  Vestment  of  green  crewel. 

"  1  Vestment  of  yellow  crewel. 

"  With  albs,  stoles,  and  fannels." 

Whether  the  worshippers  at  Newland,  in  these  days  of  greater 
worldly  wealth  and  prosperity,  will  be  content  to  be  outdone  in 
the  beauty  and  richness  of  the  Eucharistic  vestments  by  their 
poorer  forefathers  of  the  days  of  the  Reformation,  I  must  leave 
to  them.  Meantime,  I  have  done  my  duty  by  restoring  to  life  a 
great  principle  of  the  English  Church's  law — that  the  "  ornaments 
of  the  minister  "  at  the  time  of  Holy  Communion  are  designed  ta 
mark  that  highest  act  of  worship  as  distinct  from  every  other. 

My  earnest  prayer  to  God  for  you  is  that,  through  this  out- 
ward mark  of  distinction,  so  visible  and  plain  to  the  eye,  the 
hearts  of  all  may  be  drawn  more  and  more  to  discern  the  deep 
spiritual  grandeur  wherewith  this  great  mystery  is  clothed — a 
mystery  which  at  once  overflows  with  refreshment  and  power  to 
comfort  and  strengthen  us,  and  with  wonder  and  love  to  make  us 
worship  and  adore. 

The  fresco  painting  of  the  walls  of  St  Leonard's  was 
begun  this  autumn  by  two  frescoes  of  the  Resurrection  and 
Ascension  on  either  side  of  the  east  window,  in  memory  of 
Agnes  Raymond  Skinner.  Her  memory  was  everywhere, 
her  name  continually  mentioned,  her  grave  a  daily  care. 
"  Put  white  flowers  on  my  little  grave,  mamma,"  she  had 


RETREATS  AT  NEWLAND.  2JQ. 

said  when  a  little  child  ;  and  now  her  fair  head  literally  lay 
amongst  her  mother's  white  rose  trees,  only  a  hedge  of 
roses  separating  the  burial-ground  from  the  flower  garden. 
Nor  could  her  sweet  memory  ever  "  tinge  with  gloom  the 
stream  of  joy  that  circled  home."  It  was  a  bright  home 
still,  only  the  thoughts  of  those  who  dwelt  there  turned 
more  and  more  from  earthly  joys  to  heavenly  things.  Two 
Retreats  were  held  for  the  first  time  at  Newland  in  1870  : 
one  for  ladies,  conducted  by  the  late  Father  O'Neill ;  the 
other  for  clergy,  by  Father  Benson. 

One  of  the  Warden's  most  cherished  schemes  was  to 
found  a  Clergy  House  of  Rest,  and  he  took  and  partly  fur- 
nished a  block  of  buildings  at  this  time  for  the  purpose. 
The  scheme  was  not,  however,  carried  out  for  some  years  ; 
meanwhile  the  rooms  were  used  for  Clergy  Retreats. 

Early  in  June,  1870,  Father  Benson  sent  a  circular  to 
many  of  the  clergy,  saying — 

It  is  proposed  to  hold  a  conference  at  our  Mission  House  on 
Thursday,  July  21,  with  the  intention  of  considering  what  steps 
can  best  be  taken  for  the  production  of  a  Dictionary  of  Moral 
Theology.  I  hope  that  you  will  be  able  to  take  part  in  it,  and 
that  you  will  come  to  us  at  least  the  evening  before.  The  Bishop 
of  Brechin  has  kindly  consented  to  preside. 

Father  O'Neill  also  wrote  to  Mr.  Skinner,  saying — 

The  enclosed  paper  will  give  you  an  idea  of  a  proposed 
plan  for  supplying  one  of  the  great  wants  of  our  Church.  Many 
of  our  best  confessors  have  agreed  to  take  part  in  it — Mr.  Carter, 
Hutchings,  King,  White,  Chambers,  etc.,  besides  Dr.  Pusey  and 
the  Bishop  of  Brechin. 

Will  you  kindly  contribute  also  ?  We  want  to  make  it  a 
really  good  book  on  the  subject. 


280  SYNOPSIS  OF  MORAL   THEOLOGY. 

Please  consider  the  matter,  and  send  me  any  suggestions  or 
criticisms. 

With  kindest  regards  to  your  wife, 

Yours  most  truly  in  Jesus  Christ, 
S.  W.  O'Neill. 

Mr.  Skinner  took  the  deepest  interest  in  the  proposed 
work,  and  he  was  one  of  a  committee  of  clergy  chosen  to 
carry  it  out.  He  drew  out  a  rough  sketch  for  his  own 
guidance,  and  took  it  with  him  to  a  meeting  of  the  com- 
mittee in  London,  in  November,  1 870.  The  other  members 
at  once  perceived  that  he  had  a  far  clearer  scheme  in"  his 
mind  than  any  one  else  concerned  in  the  matter,  and  they 
begged  him  to  print  his  sketch  for  the  consideration  of 
others. 

This  request  (he  wrote)  brought  a  responsibility  for  which  I 
was  not  prepared,  but  from  which  I  was  unwilling  to  shrink  when 
pressed  upon  me.  But  the  mere  outline  which  I  had  drawn  up 
imperfectly  for  another  purpose  could  hardly  satisfy  me  for  the 
object  of  the  committee,  and  I  had  no  choice  but  to  study  the 
whole  subject  de  novo,  and  to  recast  the  plan. 

It  was  a  labour  which  only  ended  with  his  life.  The 
committee  gave  up  their  intention  of  treatises,  by  different 
authors,  on  various  subjects  of  Moral  Theology,  and  requested 
Mr.  Skinner  to  publish,  at  his  own  risk,  the  "  Synopsis  "  he 
had  prepared,  as,  they  said,  an  instalment  of  the  whole 
undertaking.  There  was  this  advantage  in  the  proposal, 
that  the  "  Synopsis  "  would  be  complete  as  far  as  it  went, 
covering  the  whole  field  of  Moral  Theology,  and  so  classified 
and  arranged  that  the  student  could  at  once  turn  to  any 
subject  on  which  he  desired  information,  and  find  references 


PREFACE    TO   ''SYNOPSIS:'  28 1 

to  the  best  writers  on  that  subject.  Perhaps  the  committee 
also  felt  that,  as  Mr.  Skinner  wrote  in  his  preface — 

it  is  quite  possible  that  it  may  be  a  more  real  help  to  the 
clergy  to  have  before  them  a  conspectus  of  the  whole  subject, 
arranged  in  a  scientific  form,  with  direction  to  authorities  which 
they  may  consult  for  themselves,  and  accept  or  not,  according  to 
their  bearing  upon  the  circumstances  required,  than  to  be  supplied 
with  a  cut-and-dry  manual,  which  might  be  felt  to  impose  too 
much  bondage  to  a  system. 

As  the  book  cannot  now  be  obtained,*  the  following 
extract  from  the  preface  is  given,  as  it  expresses  the  author's 
thoughts  on  an  important  subject : — 

I  venture  very  earnestly  to  enter  a  caveat  against  that  "  system  " 
of  philosophism  and  casuistry  which  overran  the  whole  Latin 
Church  for  more  than  a  century  from  1577,  and  still  extensively 
retains  its  hold  within  the  Roman  communion.  Of  this  theology 
it  was  said,  in  the  preface  to  the  French  translation  of  St.  Carlo 
Borromeo's  "  Instructiones  "  (demanded  by  the  Synod  of  Paris  in 
1656,  as  a  corrective,  and  brought  out  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Archbishop  Peter  de  Marea),  that  "  any  amount  of  ignorance  were 
far  to  be  preferred  to  it — '-'hujusmodi  scientia  quaevis  ignorantia 
longe  sit  potior  ! " 

We  should  do  well  to  study  carefully  the  treatise  by  Cerbert, 
"  De  recto  et  perverso  usu  Theologiae  Scholasticae,"  and  the 
exhaustive  papers  on  "  Conscience,"  "  Probabilism,"  and  "  Rigor- 

*  The  "  Synopsis  of  Moral  and  Ascetical  Theology  "  was  completed  by  the 
author  before  his  death,  and  half  of  it  had  been  passed  through  the  press  by 
himself,  while  the  whole  "  copy  "  was  found  carefully  prepared  for  the  printers. 
All  that  was  needed  was  to  revise  the  latter  half,  and  this  was  done  under  the 
close  and  able  supervision  of  one  whose  judgment  concerning  his  work  Mr. 
Skinner  had  himself  sought  shortly  before  his  death.  The  work  was  published 
by  Messrs.  Kegan  Paul,  Trench  &  Co.,  in  1882.  Alas  !  the  whole  edition, 
with  the  exception  of  about  three  hundred  copies  already  sold,  perished  shortly 
afterwards  in  the  great  fire  on  the  publishers'  premises.  Another  edition  would 
be  printed  should  a  sufficient  number  of  persons  express  a  wish  to  possess 
copies  of  a  book  which  is  the  outcome  of  enormous  labour  and  great  learning. 


282  PREFACE   TO  "SYNOPSIS." 

ism,"  contained  in  the  second  volume  of  the  "Apparatus  ad 
Theologiam  Christianam  Dogmatico-Moralem  "  of  Daniel  Concina. 
A  fair  analysis  of  Concina's  history  of  "  Probabilism  "  will  be 
found  in  the  twentieth  volume  (p.  224)  of  the  "  Bibliotheque 
Sacree  "  of  the  Dominican  Fathers  Richard  and  Girand.  That  m}" 
view  of  the  case  may  not  appear  to  be  the  mere  prejudice  of  an 
Anglican,  let  one  passage  suffice  for  a  general  view  of  the  state  of 
things  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  from  the  learned  disser- 
tation of  Pere  Graveson  of  the  Sorbonne,  "  De  Vera  Methodo 
docendi  et  addiscendi  Theologiam  Moralem,"  1 740  :  "  Sufficit 
si  generatim  dicam  alios  ad  nihilum  pene  redegisse  decern  pre- 
cepta  Decalogi,  vanis  et  distortis  interpretationibus,  quas  ei  sug- 
gessit  novum  probabilitatis  commentum  ;  alios  calumniam,  homi- 
cidia,  duella  et  abortus  a  peccato  excusasse,  dummodo  haec  fierent 
animo  proprium  conservandi  honorem;  alios  usuras  et  simonias 
licitas  reddidisse ;  alios  amphibologiarum,  et  restrictionum  men- 
talium  usum  permississe ;  alios  omnem  ecclesiastics  discipline 
ri^orem  in  administratione  Sacramentorum  Pcenitentiae  et  Eucha- 
ristiae  penitus  sustulisse ;  alios  praecepta  Ecclesiae  de  jejunio,  de 
celebratione  festorum,  etc.,  multis  cavillis  oppugnasse ;  alios 
denique  magnum  de  diligendo  Deo  in  lege  gratiae,  quae  est  lex 
amoris,  praeceptum  elevare,  totisque  viribus  tollere  de  medio  ten- 
tasse.  Sic  novitii  theologi  e  schola  nati  legem  Christi  non  solum 
suavem  reddere  conati  sunt,  sed  etiam  ejus  onus  ab  humeris  nos  - 
tris  excutere  contra  totius  antiquitatis  normam  et  sententiam.  '  O 
Apostolorum  tempora  infelicissima ! '  exclamat  pius  Carthusia- 
norum  quondam  Generalis  Gujo — '  O  viros  ignorantiae  tenebris 
involutos,  et  omni  miseratione  dignissimos,  qui  ut  ad  vitam  per- 
tingerent  propter  verba  labiorum  Dei  tarn  duras  vias  custodiebant 
et  hcec  nostra  compendia  nesciebantJ  " 

No  one  can  have  studied  the  manuals  of  casuistry  ever  so 
little,  or  known  ever  so  slightly  the  practice  of  the  books,  without 
recognizing  the  dangers  of  a  system  of  trammels.  I  am  in  harmony 
with  the  convictions  of  the  best  spiritual  guides  of  the  Western 
Church  when  I  say  that  one  of  the  best  qualifications  of  a  good 
confessor  is  to  be  neither  systematic,  nor  personal,  nor  absolute 


INTRODUCTION  TO   "SYNOPSIS:'  283 

in  his  principles  of  direction.  "  Systems "  are  mischievous  in 
politics,  in  philosophy,  in  education,  in  economy.  The  spirit  of 
mere  system  is  a  danger  everywhere  ;  in  the  domain  of  conscience 
it  is  an  absolute  evil.  Of  course  there  are  great  principles  of 
moral  and  spiritual  direction  which  never  change,  to  which  also 
there  is  in  each  conscience  a  responsive  chord  by  which  it  touches 
God.  But  these  principles  co-exist  with  an  endless  variety  of 
forms  in  which  they  are  applicable  to  individuals.  There  is  unity 
in  diversity  and  diversity  in  unity.  As  in  the  planetary  world 
each  star  is  subject  to  general  laws,  and  yet  each  star  has  its  own 
particular  law  of  gravitation  towards  its  own  queen  ;  so  in  the 
great  family  of  the  Catholic  Church,  bound  by  the  common  law 
of  duty  to  the  common  head,  each  individual  has  his  own  character 
and  heart  and  conscience,  and  the  function  of  the  spiritual  guide 
is  not  to  cramp  them  into  a  certain  shape,  but  to  direct  them 
according  to  their  own  proper  and  individual  necessities.  The 
initiative  of  healthy  direction  does  not  come  from  the  confessor, 
still  less  does  it  come  from  a  type  which  has  been  formalized  into 
an  ideal.  It  comes  straight  from  the  penitent,  enlightened  by  the 
gift  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  to  his  special  need.  The  mission 
of  the  priest  (this  is  Fenelon's  view)  is  to  aid,  to  perfect,  to  com- 
plete. He  is  to  take  for  his  basis  that  of  which  the  individual 
soul  is  capable  ;  not  that  which  he  puts  there,  but  that  which  he 
finds. 

A  long  and  elaborate  introduction  to  the  work  had 
been  projected,  and  was  begun.  ,  It  was  to  be  divided  into 
three  heads,  treating  of  (1)  The  claims  of  souls  upon  the 
priesthood  ;  (2)  The  duty  of  the  priest  towards  souls  ; 
(3)  The  priest's  preparation  for  his  office.  Those  to  whose 
judgment  the  matter  has  been  referred  have  decided  that 
part  of  the  introduction  is  too  valuable  to  be  omitted.  It 
will  be  best  given  separately  in  the  next  chapter.  Several 
years  after  it  was  begun,  Mr.  Skinner  wrote  to  the  Rev. 
W.  Nevins : 


284  LETTER   TO  REV.    IV.  NEVINS. 

July  15,  1SS0. 

My  very  dear  old  Friend, 

...  I  am  afraid  that  you  will  not  be  satisfied  to  hear  that 
the  "  Synopsis  "  makes  no  way.  The  printer  is  still  at  fault  in  many 
ways ;  but  the  author  is,  probably,  the  greatest  culprit  of  all.  I 
stick  in  the  "  Introduction  " — at  the  immensity  of  the  field  to  be 
covered,  and  the  huge  difficulty  of  compression.  My  aim  is  to 
prove  that  no  science  and  civilization,  so  called,  can  supply  the 
place  of  the  moral  law  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  necessary 
work  of  counteracting  evil  and  disseminating  good  in  the  earth. 
The  Church  alone  has  power  to  solve  the  great  problem  of  evil, 
and  to  loosen  its  hold  upon  men  and  women ;  and  for  that  pur- 
pose she  must  be  suffered  to  teach  and  to  apply  now,  in  these 
latter  times,  that  ancient  system  of  morals  which  she  has  received 
from  God  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  handed  on  from  age  to  age.  .  .  . 
As  I  gather  my  material  for  all  this,  I  am  more  and  more  appalled 
by  the  task  I  have  set  myself. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   CLAIMS   OF   SOULS   UPON   THE   PRIESTHOOD. 

"The  ministers  of  the  Gospel  are  the  ministers  of  reconciliation,  are  com- 
manded to  restore  such  persons  as  are  overtaken  in  a  fault,  and  to  that  purpose 
they  come  to  offer  their  ministry,  if  they  may  have  cognizance  of  the  fault 
and  person. 

' '  In  the  matter  of  prudence,  it  is  not  safe  to  trust  a  man's  self  in  the  final 
condition  and  last  security  of  a  man's  soul,  a  man  being  no  good  judge  in  his 
own  case.  And  when  a  duty  is  so  useful  in  all  cases,  so  necessary  in  some, 
and  encouraged  by  promises  evangelical,  and  by  the  canon  of  all  Churches, 
and  the  example  of  all  ages,  and  taught  us  even  by  the  proportions  of  duty, 
and  the  analogy  to  the  power  ministerial,  and  the  very  necessities  of  every 
man ;  he  that  for  stubbornness,  or  sinful  shamefacedness,  or  prejudice,  or  any 
other  criminal  weakness,  shall  decline  to  do  it  in  the  days  of  his  danger,  when 
the  vanities  of  the  world  are  worn  off  and  all  affections  to  sin  are  wearied  and 
the  sin  itself  is  pungent  and  grievous,  and  we  are  certain  we  shall  not  escape 
shame  for  them  hereafter  unless  we  be  ashamed  of  them  here,  and  use  all  the 
proper  instruments  of  their  pardon,  this  man,  I  say,  is  very  near  death,  but 
very  far  off  from  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." — Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor,  Works, 
vol.  iv.  p.  512,  Heber's  edition. 

1.  It  is  impossible  to  resist  the  conviction  of  sin,  and  the  thirsting 
after  holiness,  and  the  longing  for  a  closer  union  with  God,  which 
are  happily  growing  among  our  people.  For  one  who  is  content 
with  the  standard  of  external  decorum  which  fulfilled,  for  the  most 
part,  in  time  past,  the  popular  ideal  of  an  "  established  "  religion, 
there  are  a  hundred  who  are  dissatisfied  with  it  now.  Man's  life 
on  earth  is  more  realized  as  an  actual  personal  warfare  with  evil — 
a  warfare  with  which  all  other  forms  of  war  are,  in  comparison, 
but  shadows  of  conflict ;    because,  while  other  wars  are  about 


286  MAN'S  life*  war. 

things  external  to  himself,  this  is  a  struggle  to  be  carried  on  within 
himself,  and  a  struggle  for  life,  and  that  life  immortal.  There  is 
an  awakened  consciousness  of  helplessness,  in  himself,  running 
alongside  of  this  revived  conviction.  And  there  is  a  warmer 
aspiration  towards  some  divinely  appointed  instrumentality  out  of 
himself,  some  positive  and  tangible  channel  through  which  the 
mercifully  ordained  help  of  God  shall  be  conveyed.  Men's  eyes 
instinctively  turn  to  those  who  are  appointed  "  in  Christ's  stead  " 
to  say,  "  Be  ye  reconciled  to  God."  #  They  turn  to  the  priest- 
hood. 

2.  It  is  true  that  a  parallel  line  of  thought  is  to  be  recognized, 
keeping  its  hold,  no  less  actively,  upon  men's  minds,  running  in 
the  very  opposite  direction — insisting  upon  human  perfectability 
and  the  absolute  sufficiency  of  nature,  in  each  separate  personality, 
for  all  the  necessities  of  man.  But  the  intensity  of  belief  in  some 
supernatural  provision  of  God  against  the  supernatural  evils  inci- 
dent to  a  life  of  supernatural  trial  has  only  gained  strength  in 
others  by  this  antagonism.  And  these  believers  are,  thanks  be  to 
God,  in  such  large  and  growing  numbers  that  they  can  no  longer 
be  neglected  or  despised. 

3.  What  is  their  belief  but  the  result  of  their  experience? 
More,  therefore,  than  belief,  it  is  knowledge  which  they  have 
acquired,  by  honestly  studying  themselves  in  the  light  of  the 
Word  of  God.  That  Word  does  not  say  that  war  is  merely  incident 
to  man's  life,  but  that  the  whole  of  his  life  is  war,f  and  war  not  in 
light  and  easy  skirmishes,  which  suddenly  come  and  go — not  in 
occasional  incursions  of  a  visible  enemy,  which  pass  off  without 
the  trouble  of  opposing  him — but  in  decisive  battles,  internecine 
struggles,  for  life  eternal.  This  is  more  than  the  belief  of  thou- 
sands of  our  people  ;  it  is  their  knowledge.  They  know  also  that 
they  are  fighting  with  powers  whom  they  cannot  see — a  super- 
natural army — "  not  flesh  and  blood,  but  principalities  and  powers, 
rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world ; "  J  that  is,  with  personal 
angels,   wicked    spirits,    endued   with    supernatural    subtlety  and 

*  2  Cor.  v.  2,  vi.  1  ;  cf.  I  Cor.  iv.  1,2.  f  Job  vii.  1. 

%  Eph.  vi.  12. 


AID  FROM   WITHOUT.  287 

strength,  and  with  vast  experience,  who  have  everything  to  gain 
in  the  contest,  and  nothing  except  victory  to  lose.  It  has  seemed 
to  them,  therefore,  more  than  a  theologian's  speculation,*  that 
against  each  child  baptized  into  the  Church,  there  are  set  one 
hundred  devils  to  spoil  him  of  the  "  new  man  in  Christ "  which 
he  has  put  on,  and  that  the  cry  of  Delilah  is  incessant  upon  the 
ear  of  Samson,  "  The  devils  we  upon  thee,  O  Christian  soul 1 '"f 

The  conscious  necessities  of  the  soul  send  men,  under  such 
conditions,  instinctively  to  those  whom  God  has  appointed  to  give 
them  aid. 

4.  Again,  there  is  among  us  a  quickened  sense  of  the  loss 
which  is  sustained  by  an  unwatchful  life  in  the  midst  of  snares  ; 
while  common  sense  suggests,  to  the  least  thoughtful,  that  no 
watchfulness,  as  a  mere  attitude  of  the  mind,  is  likely  to  be  per- 
manent unless  it  is  continually  strengthened  by  reinforcements  of 
-substantial  aid  imported  from  without.  "  Thou  art  most  assaulted," 
are  St.  Jerome's  words  to  Heliodorus,  J  "  when  thou  art  uncon- 
scious of  the  assault.  Our  enemy  lurks  round  thee  as  a  roaring 
lion  seeking  whom  he  may  devour,  and  dost  thou  suppose  it  peace  ? 
He  sitteth  lurking  in  the  thievish  corners  of  the  streets,  and 
privily  in  his  lurking  dens  doth  he  murder  the  innocent ;  and  art 
thou  sleeping  softly  in  thy  leafy  bower  of  shade — a  certain 
prey  ?  Thou  art  wrong,  therefore,  thou  art  wrong  if  thou  thinkest 
that  the  Christian  is  not  always  under  persecution.  For  it  is  thus 
that  self-indulgence,  thus  that  avarice,  each  in  turn,  attacks  me. 
It  is  thus  that  my  '  belly '  §  aims  at  dethroning  Christ  from  my  heart 
as  God,  and  that  lust  seeks  to  expel  the  Holy  Ghost  from  His 
dwelling-place  within  me,  and  makes  me  to  violate  His  temple. 
The  enemy,  therefore,  does  persecute  me  under  a  thousand  names 
{ad  nomina  mille  mille  nocendi  artes)  and  with  a  thousand  arts ; 

*  "  Numerus  hostium  nostrorum  tantus  ut  Theologorum  aliqui  dicant 
.unicum  hominem  a  centum  diabolis  oppugnari  "  ("  Drexelii  Palaestra  Chris- 
tiana," pars.  I,  cap.  I,  sec.  1). 

t  Judges  xvi.  20. 

%  St.  Jerome,  Ep.  1.  "  Ad  Heliodorum  :  "  "  De  laude  vita?  solitarioe." 

§  Phil.  iii.  19. 


288  IGNORANCE   OF  DANGER. 

and  shall  I,  in  my  misery,  call  myself  a  conqueror  whilst  I  am 
a  captive  ?  " 

Sustained  caution,  therefore,  is  the  sinner's  ordinary  protection. 
But  this  caution  has  to  be  sustained.  And  it  is  the  priest's  office 
to  sustain  it.  The  enemy  knows  that  he  is  never  resisted  except 
when  the  object  of  his  attack  distinctly  recognizes  the  fact  of  an 
assault.  An  enlarged  power  of  this  recognition  is  what  our  people 
are  claiming  at  our  hands. 

5.  There  is  an  old  German  proverb :  "  The  devil's  powder 
makes  no  noise."  Hence,  the  victory  is  continually  lost  before 
the  battle  has  begun.  And  the  wounds  which  have  been  inflicted 
are  often  mortal ;  whilst,  worst  of  all,  the  wounded  soul  has  no 
sense  of  pain.  It  is  in  the  experience  of  us  all  to  see  men 
mortally  stricken  by  sin,  while  they  do  but  laugh,  and  forget,  and 
die.  If  they  had  but  felt  themselves  to  be  wounded,  they  had 
sought  the  surgeon  to  be  healed.  If  they  had  but  known  their 
loss,  they  had  earnestly  hastened  to  have  it  repaired.  If  St.  Paul 
had  been — what  he  declares  he  was  not — "  ignorant  of  his  de- 
vices," *  Satan  would  have  had  "the  advantage  over  him." 

Ignorance  of  the  presence  of  sin  when  it  is  actually  killing 
the  soul,  and  prejudice  against  the  avowal  of  sin  when  there  is 
ignorance  neither  of  its  presence  nor  of  its  effects,  are  two  devices 
of  his,  of  which  we  see  the  fatal  "  advantage  "  every  day.  The 
sufferers  will  lay  the  blame — and  rightly — on  the  shoulders  of  those 
priests  who  have  done  nothing,  either  for  themselves  or  for  others, 
to  take  such  ignorance  away.  "  If  we  knew,"  says  St.  Chrysos- 
tom,t  "  that  a  serpent  was  lurking  in  the  bed,  we  should  take 
infinite  pams  to  destroy  it.  But  the  devil  is  hiding  in  the  secret 
corners  of  our  hearts,  and  we  think  that  no  evil  is  happening. 
Idly  and  confidently  we  have  taken  to  lie  down  under  it  (avaTrc- 
-TTTuiKafjiev).  The  reason  is,  we  do  not  see  the  devil  with  bodily 
eyes  ;  although,  for  this  very  reason,  all  the  more  watchfulness  is 
required.  A  visible  foe  we  can  easily  escape  ;  but  we  cannot 
escape  an  invisible  foe,  unless  we  are  armed  at  every  point." 

*  2  Cor.  ii.  11. 

t  In  Rom.  v.  18 ;  Horn.  x.  6,  Ben.  Ed.,  vol.  ix.  p.  529,  C.  D. 


"EXCEPTIONAL"    THEORY.  289 

It  is  with  this  fulness  of  armour  that  our  people  have  a  right 
to  be  clothed. 

6.  No  question  is  raised  about  the  fact  that  "  God  hath  given 
power  and  commandment  to  His  ministers"  in  the  Church  of 
England,  "  to  declare  and  pronounce  to  His  people  "  in  England, 
"  being  penitent,  the  absolution  and  remission  of  their  sins."  Nor 
is  it  possible  to  doubt  that,  before  this  remission  can  be  "  pro- 
nounced," the  thing  to  be  remitted  must  also  be  pronounced ; 
otherwise  the  minister  might  be  "  remitting "  what  ought  to  be 
"retained,"  or  what  the  "people"  have  never  "repented"  of  at 
all.  But  a  theory  has  been  invented  to  restrict  the  use  of  this 
power  on  the  part  of  God's  "  ministers  " — the  theory  of  what  is 
called  exceptional  exercise,  by  the  English  priest,  of  his  office  of 
healing  the  English  people. 

If  this  theory  were  true,  it  would  involve  a  condition  of  "  ex- 
ceptional "  sinfulness  in  the  English  people.  Let  it  be  conceded 
that  the  necessity  for  disclosing  the  wounds  of  the  penitent,  in 
order  to  that  function  of  the  healer  which  is  committed  by  Christ 
to  His  ministry,  is  to  be  measured  by  their  severity,  by  their  in- 
herent deadliness,  and  by  the  suffering  which  they  inflict,  it  will 
still  be  difficult  to  prove  that  this  severity  of  deadliness  and  suffer- 
ing is  an  "  exceptional "  characteristic  of  the  sins  of  the  English 
people.  Yet  if,  as  ambassadors — standing,  "  in  Christ's  stead," 
between  souls  and  an  offended  God,  to  "  reconcile  "  them  to  Him 
— we  are  only  to  act  "  exceptionally,"  it  can  only  be  because  the 
English  people  offend  God,  by  deadly  sin,  only  on  "  exceptional " 
occasions.  Is  this  so  ?  Will  our  people  say  this  for  themselves, 
as  vehemently  as  it  has  been  said  for  (does  it  not  rather  seem 
against T)  them?  Does  the  English  Prayer-Book suggest  any  such 
idea  or  any  such  word  as  "  exceptional "  when  it  simply  asserts 
liberty  and  repudiates  compulsion,  in  stating  the  inevitable  course 
to  be  pursued  by  those  whose  consciences  must  be  quieted,  or 
who  must  be  prepared  to  die  ? 

That  a  sinner  should  be  unable  to  "  quiet  his  own  conscience," 
even  when  he  has  quite  succeeded  in  disregarding  it,  who  is  or 
has  been  in  the  habit  of  committing  deadly  sin,  without  letting  go 

U 


290  DESIRE  FOR  ABSOLUTION. 

his  faith  in  the  means  of  grace,  so  far  from  being  the  "  exception," 
is  the  general  rule  among  men  of  all  nations.  What  is  there  to 
make  such  a  case  "  exceptional "  in  England  ? 

That  a  state  of  readiness  to  receive  Christ  in  the  blessed 
Eucharist,  and  to  meet  Him  in  death  and  judgment  at  any  moment 
(which  is  the  only  state  of  life  consistent  with  true  Christianity), 
demands  a  corresponding  habit  of  purifying  and  cleansing  the 
conscience,  so  far  from  being  true  only  in  the  sense  of  occasional 
and  particular  and  "  exceptional "  acts,  must  be  universally  true, 
if  it  be  true  at  all.  .  .  . 

It  is  true  that  light  must  first  have  been  given  from  above,  to 
recognize  the  supernatural  gifts  of  contrition,  and  of  pardon  con- 
veyed through  the  commissioned  priest.  But,  assuming  the 
presence  of  such  light  illuminating  the  conscience  in  perfect 
accord  with  the  freedom  of  the  will,  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
in  converting  souls,  cannot,  without  blasphemy,  be  restrained  to 
fitting  "exceptional"  occasions  of  which  other  men  looking  on 
(though  they  may  stand  in  the  very  highest  places)  venture 
to  constitute  themselves  the  judges. 

Given  two  conditions  on  the  side  of  the  sinner — (i)  the 
absolute  certainty  of  his  faith  by  the  grace  of  God  in  the  Divine 
appointment  of  the  priest's  absolving  office,  and  (2)  the  abso- 
lutely voluntary  choice  of  his  own  will  to  set  the  sacerdotal 
power  of  "  binding  and  loosing"  in  motion  for  his  personal  relief 
— then  no  human  authority  can,  with  impunity,  restrain  to  certain 
"  occasions  "  those  powers  which  Christ  Himself  has  instituted  in 
His  mercy  for  the  consolation  of  all  men  at  all  times. 

We  cannot  force  our  powers  upon  the  sinner.  But  when  he 
offers  himself — I  will  not  say  freely,  I  will  say  more — earnestly, 
fervidly,  imploringly,  and  under  a  conviction  that  they  are  means 
of  grace  provided  for  his  soul,  claiming  them  at  our  hands,  it  will 
be  at  the  peril  of  our  own  souls  if  we  refuse  to  exercise  them, 

I  will  justify  these  strong  words  by  stronger  words  than  mine, 
and  from  a  source  which  Protestants  will  respect.  In  his  seventh 
sermon  (on  St.  Luke  xix.  18),  Chillingworth,  the  author  of  "The 
Religion  of  Protestants,"  has  these  unmistakable  words :  "  Can 


EXTRACT  FROM  CHILLING  WORTH.  29 1 

any  man  be  so  unreasonable  as  once  to  imagine  to  himself  that, 
when  our  Saviour  after  His  resurrection,  having  received,  as  Him- 
self saith,  '  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth,'  and  having  *  led 
captivity  captive,'  came  then  to  bestow  gifts ;  when  He,  in  so 
solemn  a  manner,  having  first  breathed  upon  His  disciples,  thereby 
conveying  and  insinuating  the  Holy  Ghost  into  their  hearts, 
renewed  unto  them,  or  rather  confirmed  and  sealed  unto  them, 
that  glorious  commission  which  before  He  had  given  to  St.  Peter, 
sustaining,  as  it  were,  the  person  of  the  whole  Church,  whereby 
He  delegated  to  them  an  authority  of  binding  and  loosing  sins 
upon  earth,  with  a  promise  that  the  proceedings  in  the  court  of 
heaven  would  be  directed  and  regulated  by  theirs  on  earth — can 
any  man  think  so  unworthily  of  our  Saviour  as  to  esteem  these 
words  of  His  for  no  better  than  compliment,  for  nothing  but  Court 
holy  water"  (p.  185). 

"  Since  Christ,  for  your  benefit  and  comfort,  hath  given  such 
authority  to  His  ministers,  upon  your  unfeigned  repentance  and 
contrition,  to  absolve  and  release  you  from  your  sins,  why  should 
I  doubt  or  be  unwilling  to  persuade  you  to  make  your  advantage 
of  this  gracious  promise  of  our  Saviour  ?  Why  should  I  envy  you 
the  participation  of  so  heavenly  a  blessing  ?  Truly,  if  I  should 
deal  thus  with  you  I  should  prove  myself  a  malicious,  unsatiable, 
malignant  preacher.  I  should  wickedly  and  unjustly,  and  against 
my  own  conscience,  seek  to  defraud  you  of  those  glorious  blessings 
which  our  Saviour  hath  intended  for  you  "  (pp.  187,  188). 

"  Therefore,  in  obedience  to  His  gracious  will,  and  as  I  am 
warranted  and  even  enjoined  by  my  holy  Mother  the  Church  of 
England,  expressly  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  in  the  Rubric 
for  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick  (which  doctrine  this  Church  hath 
likewise  embraced  so  far),  I  beseech  you  that,  by  your  practice 
and  use,  you  will  not  suffer  this  commission  which  Christ  hath 
given  to  His  ministers  to  be  a  vain  form  of  words,  without  any 
sense  under  them — to  be  an  antiquated  expired  commission  of  no 
use  or  validity  in  these  days.*     But  whensoever  you  find  your- 

*  Compare  St.  Augustine:  "Nemo  sibi  dicat,  occulte  ago,  apud  Deum 
ago  ;  novit  Deus  qui  mihi  ignoscat,  quia  in  corde  meo  ago.     Ergo  sine  caussa 


292  ENLIGHTENED   CONSCIENCES. 

selves  charged  and  oppressed  especially  with  such  crimes  as  they 
call  peccata  vastantia  consaentiam,  that  you  would  have  recourse  to 
your  spiritual  physician  and  freely  disclose  the  nature  and  malig- 
nancy of  your  disease,  that  he  may  be  able,  as  the  cause  shall 
require,  to  proportion  a  remedy,  either  to  search  it  with  corrosives, 
or  comfort  and  temper  it  with  oil.  And  come  not  to  him  with 
such  a  mind  as  you  would  go  to  a  learned  man  experienced  in  the 
Scripture,  as  one  that  can  speak  comfortable  and  quieting  words  to 
you,  but  as  to  one  that  hath  authority,  delegated  to  him  from  God 
Himself,  to  absolve  and  acquit  you  of  your  sins.  If  you  shall 
do  this,  assure  your  souls  that  the  understanding  of  man  is  not 
able  to  conceive  that  transport  and  excess  of  joy  and  comfort 
which  shall  accrue  to  that  man's  heart  that  is  persuaded  that  he 
hath  been  made  partaker  of  this  blessing,  orderly  and  legally, 
according  as  our  Saviour  Christ  hath  prescribed. 

"  I  have  dealt  honestly  and  freely  with  you — it  may  be  more 
freely  than  I  shall  be  thanked  for:  but  I  should  have  sinned 
against  my  own  soul  if  I  had  done  otherwise.  I  should  have 
conspired  with  our  adversaries  of  Rome  against  our.  own  Church, 
in  affording  them  such  an  advantage  to  blaspheme  our  most  holy 
and  undenled  religion"  (pp.  188,  189). 

7.  Neither  is  it  reasonable  to  suggest  (1)  that  the  sinner's 
ignorant  contentment  with  himself  is  sufficient  to  exempt  him 
from  the  interposition  of  our  express  authority  to  bring  him  to  the 
knowledge  of,  and  to  the  remedy  for,  his  sins;  nor  (2)  that  the 
exercise  of  that  authority  precludes  him  from  the  attainment 
of  "health"  because  it  necessarily  presupposes  a  "morbid"  and 
"  diseased  "  condition  of  soul. 

For  (1)  while  the  ignorance  of  self-complacency  in  sin  is  the 
devil's  main  device  for  accomplishing  man's  ruin — it  is  one  of  our 
main  words  of  counteraction,  by  the  help  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
to  enlighten  the  conscience,  so  that  the  sinner  may  become  more 
and  more  dissatisfied  with  himself.     "  Quietness  "  of  a  conscience 

dictum  est  qua  solveritis  in  terra  soluta  erunt  in  ccelo  ?  Ergo,  sine  caussa  sunt 
claves  datae  Ecclesiae  Dei?  Frustramus  Evangelium ?  Frustramus  Verba 
Christi?" — Sermo  cccxcii.  "Ad  Conjugates,"  Ben.  Ed.  vol.  v.  p.  1804,  E.  F. 


SELF-DECEIT.  293 

will  never  be  attained  by  that  process  which  has  been  called 
V  training  itself."  The  conscience  must  be  illuminated  and  taught 
and  disciplined  from  without.  Self  is  man's  most  subtle  and 
devouring  foe.  We  know  too  well  how  men  have  "  trained " 
themselves  into  a  state  of  quiescence,  under  habits  of  deadly  sin, 
both  of  the  body  and  of  the  mind.  Luxury  and  gluttony  of  the 
flesh,  pride,  covetousness,  envy,  anger,  sloth  of  the  spirit — not 
knowing,  in  the  true  sense  of  "  knowledge,"  because  not  willing 
to  know,  that  "they  who  do  such  things  shall  not  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  God."  * 

Dr.  Donne,  the  distinguished  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  in  the  reign 
of  James  L,  said,  "The  more  I  find  confession  or  any  religious 
practice  repugnant  to  my  own  nature,  the  further  will  I  go  in  it." 

We  only  learn  what  sin  is  and  what  holiness  is — how  to 
unlearn  the  one  and  how  to  practise  the  other,  by  the  same 
process  of  discipline  by  which  proficiency  in  other  arts  and 
sciences  is  attained. 

And  (2)  while  a  diseased  conscie7ice  and  a  diseased  soul  are  by 
no  means  convertible  terms,  a  state  of  spiritual  "  health "  is  not, 
I  suspect,  the  normal  condition  of  souls  with  whom  the  English 
priest,  any  more  than  the  priest  of  other  lands,  has  to  deal. 

We  are  not  called  to  bring  the  righteous,  but  sinners,  to 
repentance.  "  They  that  are  whole  need  not  the  physician,  but 
they  that  are  sick."  So  that  it  might  suffice,  in  argument,  for  us 
to  say :  "  Yes,  the  multitudes  of  sick  are  so  vast,  so  increasing, 
that  we  accept  the  imputation  of  '  disease '  wherewith  it  is  sought 
to  identify,  if  not  to  disparage,  that  priestly  office  of  '  confession ' 
which  we  are  commissioned  to  discharge."  But  while  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  absolute  immunity  from  spiritual,  any  more  than 
from  bodily  "  sickness,"  and  while  "  health "  is  but  a  relative 
term  to  describe  an  escape,  or  a  transition,  or  a  recovery  from 
disease — into  which  at  any  moment  the  unguarded  soul  may  fall — 
the  conscience  which  is  most  keenly  sensitive  to  the  least  approach 
of  evil  to  the  soul  is  furthest  removed  from  the  imputation  of 
"morbidity."     Moreover,  if  "disease"  is  a  variable  quantity,  so 

*  Gal.  v.  19-21. 


294  LAW  0F  REPENTANCE. 

is  "health."  The  same  sins  which  make  no  conscious  impression 
upon  one,  are  very  "grievous"  and  "intolerable"  to  another. 
And  the  same  person,  under  the  light  of  the  convincing  Spirit, 
will  recognize  "  sickness  "  in  himself  by  those  very  marks  which 
he  once  mistook  for  an  indication  of  health. 

An  experienced  diagnostician,  outside  of  the  patient,  is,  there- 
fore, absolutely  needed  for  the  infirm  of  soul  as  much  as  for  the 
infirm  of  body.  At  least,  it  is  as  vitally  important  for  the  soul  to  be 
kept  in  health  as  to  be  kept  from  disease.  And  the  claims  of 
the  patient  on  the  spiritual  physician  are  as  irresistible  for  the  one 
as  for  the  other. 

8.  It  will  hardly  be  contended  that  the  Church  of  England  set 
herself  to  invent  a  new  law  of  "  repentance  "  when  she  awoke  to 
find  herself  and  her  children  isolated  from  that  visible  communion 
with  the  whole  body  of  Western  Christendom  within  which  she 
both  learned  and  practised  the  old  and  original  common  law. 

Had  the  accident  of  separation  and  isolation — which  she  did 
not  cause,  but  has  to  bear,  in  the  providence  of  God — been 
accompanied  with  evidence  in  continuity  of  her  own  exemption 
from  those  causes  of  corruption  which  were  wont  to  make  the 
spiritual  life  of  her  sons  and  daughters  to  decay,  as  they  do  still 
the  separate  and  corporate  spiritual  life  of  every  people,  it  might 
have  been  argued  with  plausibility  that  we  have  no  longer  need 
for  the  "  ancient  discipline  "  of  repentance  in  any  form.  But,  as 
things  stand,  the  reasonable  assumption  is  that  the  English  Church, 
compelled  by  the  old  necessities,  abides  by  the  old  laws.  That 
the  same  community  which  prays  that  her  penitents  may  "  repent 
according  to  the  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,"  *  who  brought 
all  Judea  "unto  him,  confessing  their  sins" — which  publicly 
laments  the  loss  of  the  ancient  severity  of  penal  judgment, 
uttered  in  public  against  the  persons  of  individual  sinners  previous 
to  their  absolution  and  restoration  to  communion,  and  which 
earnestly  wishes  that  this  "discipline"  may  be  restored  again, 
together  with  that  previous  confession  in  private  to  the  "peni- 
tentiary "  which  the  public  discipline  involved — that  the  same 
*  See  Collect  for  Nativity  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and  Mark  i.  4,  5. 


ENGLISH  CHURCH  RULE.  2g$ 

community  which  makes  this  profession  intends  at  the  same  time 
to  discourage  all  personal  discipline  whatever,  and  prefers  that 
every  guilty  conscience  should  settle  both  the  meaning  of 
" repentance"  and  the  terms  of  penitence  and  restoration  secretly 
within  itself,  is  so  unreasonable  and  self-contradictory  a  proposi- 
tion that  nothing  but  the  violence  of  deep-seated  unreasoning 
prejudice  can  account  for  its  appearance  among  sane  men. 

It  is  beyond  doubt  that  the  English  Church,  in  that  spirit  of 
comprehension  (call  it  "compromise"  if  you  will)  which  inspired 
her  policy  amid  the  troubles  of  unsettlement,  leaves  her  children 
who  sin  perfectly  free  to  use  all,  or  to  omit  to  use  some,  of  the 
remedies  which  she  has  received  to  offer  them.  It  is,  further, 
beyond  doubt  that  the  tone  of  her  mind  has  been,  from  the  first, 
to  lament  the  relaxation  of  that  discipline  which  she  admires  in 
the  Primitive  Church.  It  is  therefore  not  only  not  certain,  but  in 
the  highest  degree  unreasonable  to  suppose,  that,  in  regard  to  the 
one  remedial  measure  which  she  commends  to  them  as  being, 
at  once,  the  discipline  and  the  consolation  of  the  individual  and 
separate  conscience,  it  is  a  commendation  which  she  encourages 
them  to  reject* 

*  See  Homilies,  Book  ii.  I,  2,  p.  176,  and  Jewel's  "Apology  :  "  "Nam  nos 
quidem  utimur  priscis  et  avitis  legibus  ;  et  quantum  his  moribus  &  temporibus 
in  tanta  corruptela  rerum  omnium  potest  fieri,  disciplinam  Ecclesiasticam  dili- 
genler  et  serio  administramur  "  (p.  1201). 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

LETTERS   OF   COUNSEL. 

1870-1872. 

"  What,  many  times  I  musing  asked,  is  man, 
If  grief  and  care 
Keeps  far  from  him  ?  he  know  not  what  he  can, 
What  cannot  bear. 

"  He,  till  the  fire  hath  purged  him,  doth  remain 
But  merely  dross  : 
To  lack  the  loving  discipline  of  pain 
Were  endless  loss." 

It  was  perhaps  during  the  years  between  the  death  of  his 
child  and  his  leaving  Newland  that  the  spiritual  work  there 
increased  so  much  as  seriously  to  injure  the  vicar's  health. 
The  trustees  of  the  almshouses  had,  in  1869,  withdrawn  the 
support  of  foundation-boys,  on  whom  the  church  choir 
depended,  and  also  the  organist's  salary,  but  for  some  years 
the  choral  service  was  still  maintained  in  the  greatest 
excellence,  and  in  1871  there  can  scarcely  have  been  a 
village  church  in  England  where  the  services  were  so 
perfect,  both  for  beauty  and  reverence.  During  three 
successive  Lents,  1870-71-72,  the  Warden  gave  "con- 
ferences "  after  the  five  o'clock  service  on  Thursdays,  and 
at  these  times  the  church  was  almost  full.  They  were 
intended  for  those  not  altogether  beginners  in  the  spiritual 


AMMERGAU  AND  NORTH  ITALY.  297 

life,  and  perhaps  they  had  even  more  influence  upon  souls 
than  his  sermons. 

In  September,  187 1,  Mr.  Skinner  went  abroad  for  his 
holiday,  and,  with  his  wife,  went  to  Ammergau  for  the 
Passion  Play,  and  thence  from  Munich  to  Ulm,  where  he 
notes  having  a  two  hours'  most  interesting  talk  with  Dr. 
Dollinger,  and  by  Innsbruck  to  North  Italy,  delighting  in 
time  spent  at  the  Biblioteca  Ambrosiana  at  Milan.  They 
returned  over  the  Spliigen  by  Como,  and  through  Switzer- 
land and  Antwerp  to  England,  where  he  arrived  in  stronger 
health,  and  got  through  the  rest  of  the  year  fairly  well. 
He  went  for  a  short  time  to  Brighton  before  the  next 
Lent,  being  again  unwell  and  quite  unfit  to  work.  To 
his  wife  he  writes  on  the  eve  of  the  anniversary  of  their 
child's  death  : 

Brighton,  St.  Agatha,  1872. 
I  am  anxious  for  you  to  get  this  to-morrow  morning,  so  I  write 
at  once,  now  that  I  am  out  of  church,  where  I  have  been  for 
Mattins  and  Sext.  How  sweet  to  think  of  our  darling  on  this 
the  anniversary  of  her  last  day  of  "weariness"  ("I  am  very 
weary — He  was  weary  too  !  "),  now  with  St.  Agatha  and  the  troops 
of  virgins,  feeding  among  the  lilies  !     We  sang  the  hymn 

"  In  blessed  troops  they  follow  Thee, 
"With  dance  and  song  and  melody," 

though  not  to  the  dear  familiar  tune  of  which  she  was  so  fond. 
But  nothing  so  realizes  her  bright  eye  and  thoughtful  reverent 
face,  to  my  mind,  and  brings  her  present,  as  that  lovely  hymn. 
Ah  yes  ...  I  can  sympathize  with  your  weakest  moment  at 
this  time  ;  so  you  need  not  restrain  the  natural  vent  of  tears,  and 
even  of  grief,  as  you  recall  the  incidents  of  the  last  forty-eight 
hours  of  that  precious  virgin's  life,  in  the  struggle  of  separation 
between  her  frail  and  broken  body  and  her  keen,  undimmed,  and 
sensitive  spirit. 


298  MERCY  IN  BEREAVEMENT. 

Of  course  one  cannot  but  dwell  upon  the  picture  which 
ineffaceably  remains  printed  on  the  memory — on  yours  naturally, 
more  than  on  any  other — the  little  bed,  with  the  worn-out,  pale, 
languid,  yet  eager,  thirsting,  longing  face  upon  it  :  and  every  word 
she  uttered,  and  every  sigh  she  breathed  ;  from  the  highest  hope 
down  to  the  bitterest  self-reproach  ; — everything  comes  back  and 
touches  me  just  as  freshly  and  acutely,  as  if  it  were  all  taking 
place,  really  over  again.  I  lay  awake  most  of  last  night,  and  gave 
myself  up  unreservedly  and  freely  to  recall  everything,  just  as  it 
was  pleased  to  come  back  to  me. 

I  think,  my ,  that  there  is  good  for  us  in  being  able  to 

reproduce  to  ourselves  that  solemn  scene  ;  and,  above  all,  in  being 
able  to  consider  that  we  ourselves  must  have  our  own  turn  as 
chief  actors  in  a  similar  one,  when  we,  too,  "  shall  lie  down  in 
the  dust."  And  we  could  hardly  be  able  to  reproduce  the  scene, 
and  be  natural  and  true,  unless  also  we  reproduced  something 
of  the  emotion  which  touched  and  wrung  our  hearts  to  the  centre. 
You  must  not,  therefore,  try  to  suppress  what  is  not  only  natural 
to  your  mother's  affections,  but  good  for  your  spiritual  life,  as 
keeping  fresh  in  you  the  reality  of  the  last  struggle  for  which  we 
must  all  be  prepared. 

But,  thank  God,  there  is  another  side  to  this  sweet  and  bitter 
anniversary ;  and  the  sweet  overpowers  and  masters  the  bitter — 
not  by  annihilating  it,  but  by  absorbing  it  into  itself.  There  is 
nothing  yet,  in  all  our  married  life  of  unvarying  mercy  from  God's 
hands,  to  approach  in  greatness  the  mercy  wherewith  He  blessed 
us  and  our  "  little  one  "  whom  He  lent  us,  when  He  was  pleased 
so  early  to  take  her  home  to  Himself :  to  take  her  in  her  virgin- 
hood  of  fresh  and  ardent  youth,  before  she  could  be  seared  and 
withered  by  the  scorching  sun  of  the  world. 

A  blessing,  foremost  of  all,  for  herself — to  be  so  soon  delivered  ; 
so  soon  matured  and  ripened ;  so  soon  set  free  from  the  bondage 
of  evil ;  so  soon  brought  into  the  very  end  of  her  being.  For, 
did  not  God  make  her  for  Himself,  and  only  lend  her  to  us  to 
prepare  her  for  Him  ?  And  a  blessing  to  us — to  be  so  soon  told 
that  our  part  in  her  and  for  her  was  finished ;  to  be  so  soon  relieved 


DEATH  OF  HIS  MOTHER.  299 

from  the  burden  of  anxiety  for  her  soul  (an  anxiety  which,  if  we 
could  measure  it  fully  against  the  risks  of  sin,  would  be  simply 
overwhelming) ;  to  be  so  soon  comforted  with  the  comfort  of  know- 
ing that  she  is  with  Jesus,  which  is  "  better  than  life  ; "  and  that, 
though  the  flesh  which  she  took  of  us  must  first  see  corruption  in 
the  grave,  the  spirit  which  dwelt  in  that  flesh,  and  which  (because 
of  that  indwelling)  is  allied  to  our  spirit,  is  for  ever  free  in  the 
presence  of  Him  who  gave  it.  What  blessing  to  us  (next  to  the 
blessing  of  perfect  union  with  the  whole  body  of  Christ  in 
unveiled  glory)  can  be  compared  to  this  ?  How  are  we  not  drawn 
nearer  to  Jesus,  by  the  consciousness  of  her  whom,  through  us, 
God  brought  into  being,  being  near  Him  !  How  have  not  our 
prayers  and  praises  and  Eucharists  been  intensified  in  their 
frequency  and  earnestness,  and,  it  may  be  sometimes  also,  in  their 
sensible  joy  and  consolations,  since  this  blessing  befell  us,  that  our 
"  little  one  "  "  was  not,  for  God  took  her  !  " 

How  have  we  not  been  more  and  more  weaned  from  this  earth 
and  its  allurements,  and  made  to  live  with  the  far  greater  and  more 
enjoyable  company  of  the  spirits  of  the  just,  and  to  lose  our  relish 
for  any  society  less  satisfying  !  And  can  this  blessing  be  ex- 
aggerated— the  blessing  of  learning,  by  experience  here  below, 
that  "  There  is  none,  O  Lord,  in  heaven  but  Thee,  none  on  earth 
that  we  can  love  in  comparison  of  Thee  "  ?     Comfort  yourself,  my 

,  with  these  thoughts.     To-morrow  (D.V.)  I  celebrate  at  8.30, 

and  shall  of  course  be  with  you  as  well  as  with  her.  .  .  . 

He  returned  home  a  few  days  before  Ash-Wednesday, 
and  threw  himself  into  his  Lenten  work  "  as  though  he  had 
been  a  giant."  It  was  his  last  Lent  of  continuous  work  on 
earth.  On  April  23  his  beloved  mother  passed  away,  in 
her  ninety- third  year ;  clear  in  mind  and  heart  to  the  last, 
and  taken  to  her  rest  just  before  the  days  came  when  her 
son  could  no  longer  have  visited  and  ministered  to  her. 
Every  Monday  morning  he  Celebrated  in  her  room,  to 
which  she  had  been  confined  for  a  year,  and  this  he  did  for 


300  FAILING  HEALTH. 

the  last  time  on  Monday,  April  22,  not  knowing  that  in  less 
than  twenty-four  hours  her  pilgrimage  would  be  over. 

It  was  certainly  this  year  that  the  final  break-down 
came,  from  which  he  never  entirely  rallied.  He  had,  at 
Canon  King's  request,  conducted  a  priests'  Retreat  at 
Cuddesdon  in  July,  and  in  August  went  for  a  holiday  to 
Wales.  There,  at  the  house  of  his  friend,  Mr.  Wynne  of 
Aberamfra,  he  became  very  ill,  and  was  confined  to  bed  for 
some  days  ;  returning  home  in  September  weak  and  far 
from  recovered,  but  persisting  in  preaching,  though  sitting 
in  the  pulpit.  All  the  rest  of  this  year  he  was  more  or  less 
out  of  health,  but  he  did  not  take  less  work  ;  rather  that 
which  came  to  him  from  outside  his  parish  seemed  to 
increase  every  month. 

There  was  scarcely  ever  a  time,  to  the  very  last,  when 
he  was  not  ready  to  spend  himself  in  trying  to  help  others 
spiritually.  "  What  a  store  there  must  be  of  love  for  him 
in  heaven — of  those  whom,  by  God's  grace,  he  won  to  God, 
or  to  whom  he  was  the  channel  of  God's  love,  and  loved  in 
Him  !  "  Dr.  Pusey  wrote  of  him,  after  his  death. 

The  four  following  letters  were  written  to  a  young 
friend  whose  faith  had  been  disturbed  by  reading  sceptical 
writings : — 

My  dear , 

You  must  not  be  harder  on  me,  in  your  mind,  than  I  am 
on  myself.  I  have  been  unkind  in  outward  seeming,  in  not 
writing  to  you  upon  the  point  of  your  last  note,  viz.  your  desire 
for  Holy  Communion. 

But,  I  am  not  unkind  in  my  heart :  I  love  your  soul  most 
dearly,  and  your  poor  little  heart's  troubles  are  daily  in  my 
prayers ;  and  I  know  you  are  trying  to  be  patient  and  good 
with  me. 


LETTERS.  301 

But  I  am  very  broken  in  health,  and  writing,  and  thinking 
even,  wear  me  sadly.  I  know  I  could  not  (for  I  ought  not  to) 
sanction  your  receiving  the  blessed  Sacrament  in  the  state  of  faith 
and  repentance  in  which  you  avowed  yourself  to  be  when  we  last 
had  intercourse.  And  yet  I  was  not,  nor  am  I  now,  up  to  the 
mark  of  writing,  at  length,  to  say  why. 

So  now  I  must  ask  you  to  trust  me,  simply.  You  ought  not  to 
go  to  that  heavenly  feast,  until  you  can  do  so  with  perfect  faith 
and  penitence,  and  with  a  purified  conscience;  otherwise  you 
would  throw  yourself  back,  indefinitely,  in  the  course  upon  which, 
I  hope  and  trust,  you  are  embarked. 

God  bless  you ! 

Your  ever  affectionate 
J.S. 

I  am  truly  thankful  for  your  letter.  I  did  not  expect  wonders, 
and  I  am  not  disappointed.  If  you  will  only  persevere  in  the 
course  which  I  have  appointed  for  you,  as  an  exercise  of  self- 
mortification,  in  the  consciousness  of  your  own  ignorance  and 
presumption  in  doubting,  your  full  blessing  will  come  in  the  end, 
if  God  wills. 

The  four  acts  of  devotion  to  the  Divine  Trinity  will  be  most 
useful,  as  acts  of  submission  of  yourself,  even  if  you  do  not  use 
them  as  acts  of  formal  worship.  So  do  not  intermit  them.  Never 
mind  their  being  beyond  you  :  of  course  they  are  beyond  you. 
God  is  beyond  you.  Still,  you  must  humbly  aim  to  reach  Him. 
I  don't  want  you  to  be  unreal;  but  it  is  not  unreal  to  give  to 
God  what  He  claims  as  His  due.  It  is  not  merely  that  we  have 
to  think  of  what  we  can  give,  but  also  of  what  He  demands.  And 
there  is  no  unreality  in  acting  solely  upon  the  latter  thought,  even 
when  we  are  not  sure  of  the  former. 

For  the  present,  I  do  not  want  you  to  read  any  other  portions 
of  the  Bible  than  those  which  I  have  appointed.  But  read  care- 
fully now,  every  day,  the  Books  of  Wisdom  and  Ecclesiasticus,  as 
examples  of  true  philosophy  in  morals. 

Say,  many  times  a  day,  that  prayer  which  has  struck  you — 


302  LETTERS. 

"  Lord,  I  believe  whatever  Thou  hast  revealed,  teach  Thou  me," 
etc.,  in  Dr.  P 's  "  Miracles  of  Prayer." 

I  will  read  "  Lord  Lyttelton,"  when  I  have  time,  and  tell  you 
what  it  suggests. 

But,  dearest  child,  do  not  yield  to  the  tempter  who  desires  to 
absorb  you  in  thoughts  of  speculation,  instead  of  a  life  of  practice. 

"  Lord,  what  shall  this  man  do  ? "  was  a  speculation  which 
our  blessed  Lord  rebuked,  even  in  His  first  apostle.  If  you 
desire  to  avoid  hell,  and  to  be  blessed  in  heaven,  live  in  faith  and 
hope  and  love  with  God  and  man,  in  humble  obedience  to  the 
call  of  every  duty,  and  you  can  then  afford  to  wait  till  the  "veil  is 
taken  away,"  for  the  solution  of  all  mysteries. 

God  bless  you  ! 

Your  ever  loving 

J.  s. 

My  dear  , 


I  feel  very  guilty.  You  ought  to  have  heard  from  me  in 
return  for  your  last  very  nice,  and  on  the  whole  satisfactory  letter, 
long  ago ;  but  I  have  been  in  the  utmost  uncertainty  as  to  health 

ever  since  I  left  England,  and  sometimes  (as  lately  at ,  and 

even  till  to-day)  very  broken  indeed  and  good  for  nothing.  So  I 
have  had  a  continual  shrinking  from  the  effort  of  writing,  because 
I  am  always  the  worse  for  it.  You  will,  therefore,  be  tender  with 
me  and  not  judge  me  hardly  ?  I  have  never  forgotten  you  at  my 
best  moments ;  and  my  faith  is  much  more  in  anxious  and  earnest 
prayer  for  you,  than  in  any  number  of  volumes  of  letters,  if  I  could 
have  written  them.  Had  you  been  with  me  in  person,  it  would 
have  been  perhaps  different ;  at  least,  it  would  have  been  com- 
paratively easy  to  me  to  have  done  what  I  could  to  help  you  to 
recover  the  precious  things  you  had  lost. 

We  are  now  on  our  way  home,  which  (D.V.)  we  hope  to  reach 
for  next  Sunday;  and  I  am,  therefore,  not  without  hope  that  I 
may  be  able  to  see  you  some  time  in  the  course  of  the  summer,  if 
I  am  permitted  to  abide  at  my  post  at  dear  Newland.  But  I  am 
very  unwilling  to  leave  you  any  longer  without  just  one  word 


DISCIPLINE.  303 

respecting  the  obligations  under  which  you  stand  to  observe  the 
counsels  which  I  gave  you  before  we  parted. 

I.  In  respect  of  the  discipline  as  to  reading,  etc.  I  think  it 
will  be,  undoubtedly,  for  your  good  to  persevere  in  keeping  all  my 
directions  ;  because  their  object  was  mainly,  not  only  to  sys- 
tematize and  methodize  study  on  the  most  important  of  all  sub- 
jects, in  place  of  pursuing  the  desultory  and  capricious,  not  to  say 
wilful,  choice  into  which  you  had  fallen,  but  also  to  exercise  you 
in  the  wholesome  discipline  of  restraint,  which  is  of  the  essence  of 
soundness  in  intellectual  and  moral  and  spiritual  health,  as  it  is  of 
physical.  But  I  do  not  desire  to  press  this  upon  you  any  longer, 
if  you  wish  to  be  free ;  because  I  am  not  entitled  to  force  my  own 
sense  of  what  is  best  for  you  upon  your  will,  a  moment  longer 
than  you  are  heartily  willing. 

II.  In  respect  of  your  reception  of  the  highest  of  all  Christian 
blessings  and  privileges,  the  Communion  of  the  Body  and  Blood 
of  our  dearest  Lord.  It  is  a  blessed  sign  of  returning  grace  that 
you  should  be  again  reaching  out  for  that  mercy,  and  feeling 
your  need  of  it,  and  in  any  degree  longing  for  it.  But  I  love 
your  dear  soul  too  much  to  be  willing  that  you  should  incur  any 
risk  of  eating  and  drinking  to  its  hurt ;  and  therefore  I  have  im- 
pressed upon  you  the  wholesome  spirit  of  discipline,  which  guided 
the  early  Church  in  withholding  that  gift  from  her  children  who 
had  lapsed  into  unbelief,  even  for  many  years,  until  they  had  been 
fully  and  completely  restored  to  absolute  and  undoubted  and 
undoubting  faith. 

There  is  hardly  a  greater  peril  (St.  Paul  being  witness)  than  to 
receive  the  greatest  mystery  of  the  faith  without  faith  ;  not  "dis- 
cerning," that  is,  not  distinguishing  the  Body  of  our  Lord  (in  full 
faith  in  the  incarnation  of  God  in  Christ,  who  then  gives  Himself 
to  the  faithful)  from  common  food.  And,  I  would  not,  for  all 
the  world,  encourage  you  to  approach  the  Sacrament  without  such 
faith  and  such  "  discernment,"  held  honestly  and  implicitly — at 
least,  to  the  utmost  of  your  conscious  will.  I  should,  therefore, 
here  also  greatly  prefer  that  you  should,  as  far  as  you  know  how, 
secure  the  absolute  simplicity  of  your  faith  and  repentance  first ; 


304  CONFESSION. 

and  then,  in  all  humility  and  penitence,  draw  near  to  Him,  in  the 
mystery  of  His  own  appointment. 

But  here  again,  also,  I  have  no  power  and  no  desire  to  inter- 
pose my  own  convictions  of  your  duty  between  you  and  your 
conscience,  for  a  moment  longer  than  your  conscience  is  enabled 
to  accept  them  j  so  that  you  release  ??ie  from  the  responsibility.  I 
am  anxious  to  say  thus  much,  lest  you  should  be  chafing  under 
any  supposed  bondage ;  or  suffering,  in  any  degree,  in  the  free- 
dom of  your  soul,  from  any  supposed  oppression  of  an  outward 
rule. 

May  God  the  Holy  Spirit  guide  and  lead  and  comfort  you, 
and  bring  you  into  the  light  of  truth  and  peace,  is  ever  the  most 

earnest  prayer,  my  dear ,  of 

Your  very  loving  and  true  friend, 

J.S. 

My  dear , 

On  the  subject  of  confession,  it  is  impossible  to  mistake 
the  distinctness  of  the  two  senses  in  which  it  may  be  used. 

I.  In  its  appointed  place,  in  necessary  relation  to  that  power 
of  reconciliation  of  sinners  to  God  with  which  Christ  has  vested 
His  ministers,  generally  called  the  "power  of  the  keys" — "Whose- 
soever sins  ye  remit,"  etc. ;  and 

II.  In  the  discretionary  consultation  with  a  spiritual  friend,  to 
whom,  in  order  to  advice,  confession  of  one's  sins  and  faults  may 
be  made. 

In  the  first  sense,  confession  is  a  part  of  penitence,  and  has  a 
sacramental  character.  The  penitent  has  recourse  to  it,  as  to  the 
ordained  way  of  God,  and  in  order  (not  to  advice  and  counsel 
from  man,  but)  to  pardon  and  absolution  from  God.  You  cannot, 
therefore,  separate  the  thought  or  the  idea  of  this  confession  from 
the  thought  and  idea,  or  from  the  gift  itself  of  pardon.  And  so, 
this  confession  is  part  of  an  ordinance  in  which  the  minister  takes 
his  place,  not  as  a  mere  friend,  but  as  a  priest,  an  ambassador  of 
God,  in  which  also  he  is  bound  by  the  canonical  law  of  secresy, 
more  than  by  the  law  of  honour. 

In  the  second  sense,   confession  may  be  a  great  test  of  the 


CONFESSION  WITHOUT  ABSOLUTION.  305 

earnestness  and  sincerity  of  one's  penitence ;  just  as  telling  one's 
mother,  or  brother,  or  husband,  or  wife  of  one's  sin  against  God 
and  them,  would  be  a  mark  of  humility  and  earnest  purpose  of 
amendment.  But — not  looking  to  God's  pardon  as  the  end,  or  to 
submission  to  the  appointed  "  power  of  the  keys  "  as  the  means — 
there  would  be,  in  it,  nothing  attained  of  that  which  especially  is 
promised.  And  the  position  of  the  minister  to  whom  the  con- 
fession is  made  would  be,  not  that  of  a  priest,  but  of  a  friend, 
and  his  bond  of  secresy  would  be  nothing  but  a  bond  of  honour. 

If  I  understand  you  aright,  you  tell  me  that,  as  yet,  your  faith 
in  the  ordinance,  in  the  first  sense,  would  not  warrant  you  in 
resorting  to  it  "  for  the  benefit  of  absolution,"  but  that  as  a 
remedy,  without  absolution,  you  would  be  glad  to  try  it  ? 

But  that  means  that  you  would  like  to  try  it  without  the 
remedy.  Absolution  is  the  remedy  to  which  confession  leads  up ; 
otherwise  there  is  in  confession  discipline,  but  no  " remedy"  at 
all.  I  am  therefore  led  to  believe  that  you  really  mean  to  say 
that  you  would  be  glad  to  use  confession  in  the  second  sense  in 
which  I  have  defined  it;  at  all  events,  until  God  has  given  you 
more  light  to  see  your  way  clear. 

And  my  reply  is — By  all  means,  do  what  you  can  to  satisfy  the 
need  which  you  feel,  and  humbly  and  quietly  wait  till  you  can  do 
more.  It  is  far  better  to  let  the  heart  open  itself,  as  it  can,  to  the 
light  of  grace,  than  to  shut  it  up  because  it  cannot  do  all  that  it 
might  do.  So  now,  do  what  you  will — you  may  rely  on  me.  I 
will  be  a  priest  to  you,  if  you  will  it ;  or  I  will  be  a  friend,  and  not 
a  priest  to  you,  if  you  prefer  it.  In  either  case,  I  will  do  all  I  can 
to  help  you  to  please  God,  and  to  be  happy. 

Yours  ever  affectionately, 

J.  s. 

P.S. — How  strange  it  is  that  people  will  always,  on  this 
subject,  torment  themselves  and  obscure  it  by  that  bugbear 
adjective  "  habitual  "  !  As  if  one  ought  never  to  tell  one's  doctor 
the  nature  of  one's  aches  and  pains,  out  of  fright  lest  such  com- 
munications should  become  "  habitual  "  !  The  only  real  question 
is  this — "  Have  diseased  souls  any  doctor  at  all?" 

X 


306  FASTING  COMMUNION. 

Whether,  however,  this  sort  of  confession,  in  your  case,  would 
warrant  me  in  advising  you  to  go  to  Holy  Communion  is  more 
than  I  can  say  until  I  had  heard  it.  And,  even  then,  my  difficulty 
Avould  be  less  as  to  the  reality  of  your  sorrow  and  your  desire  of 
amendment,  than  as  to  your  faith  in  the  blessed  Sacrament,  as 
the  channel  to  you  of  God's  pardon.  If  you  doubt  the  power  of 
the  words  said  by  the  priest  in  absolution  to  convey  pardon  to 
you,  why  should  you  trust  the  words  said  by  him  in  consecrating 
the  Eucharist,  "This  is  My  Body,"  etc.,  to  do  it? 

For  indeed,  my  dearest  child,  what  your  soul  needs  is  (i) 
pardon  and  peace,  and  (2)  grace  and  edification ;  and  these  gifts 
are  in  God's  hands  to  give  as  He  pleases,  not  as  we  please ;  and 
He  has  been  pleased  to  give  them,  through  His  commissioned 
ministers,  in  the  positive  ordinances  of  His  Church. 

Some  of  the  following  letters  were  written  about  this 
time  ;  the  first  to  the  editor  of  the  Guardian,  the  rest  to 
various  persons. 

Fasting  Communion. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  "  Guardian? 
Sir, 

May  I  trespass  upon  your  columns  for  my  own  relief, 
at  a  time  when,  being  disabled  from  writing  many  letters,  I  am 
bound  to  answer  the  same  question  put  to  me  by  various  persons, 
in  various  circumstances  ?  I  beg  to  disclaim  the  least  value  for 
my  advice,  except  for  those  who  have  exercised  their  discretion 
by  consulting  me. 

I  will  take  one  as  a  representative  case ;  it  runs  as  follows  : — 

"  We  are  two  miles  and  a  half  from ;  and  there  is  only 

one  late  Celebration  here  at once  a  month.  Till  I  had  an  ill- 
ness I  walked  to ,  or ,  every  Sunday,  for  the  early  Celebra- 
tion ;  but  now  the  doctor  forbids  my  doing  so,  at  least  for  the 
winter.  And  if  I  fast  till  after  the  late  Celebration  I  am  unfit  for 
work  the  next  day.  Do  you  think  I  might  refresh  myself  early 
on  the  day  of  Communion  ?  or  must  I  give  up  my  present  work 
on  that  account  ?  " 


FASTING  COMMUNION.  307 

I  venture  to  answer — 

"  The  rule  of  the  Catholic  Church,  laid  down  for  East  and 
West  (which  knows  no  exception  except  for  persons  at  the  time  of 
death),  is  that  the  blessed  Sacrament  should  be  received  '  the  first 
food  of  the  day,'  therefore  fasting. 

"  There  is  nothing  said  about  this  rule  in  the  English  Prayer- 
Book;  because,  evidently,  it  is  just  one  of  those  things  of  fact 
which  never  was  and  never  could  be  gainsaid,  and  about  which, 
if  anything  was  to  be  said,  it  would  have  been  in  the  form  of  an 
intimation,  in  terms,  that  the  rule  is  not  binding  on  the  English 
people. 

"  But  no  such  declaration  appears.  Therefore,  according  to 
my  judgment,  the  universal  custom  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is 
binding  on  the  children  of  the  Church  of  England. 

"  Yet  there  are  those  among  our  priests  who  think  that  the 
absence  of  any  confirmation  of  the  allegiance  due  to  the  custom 
of  fasting  Communion,  from  the  letter  of  the  English  Prayer-Book, 
leaves  English  communicants  free  to  receive,  fasting  or  not. 

"  With  the  greatest  love  and  respect  for  some  of  those  priests, 
I  cannot  so  regard  it ;  nor  can  I  advise  others  so  to  regard  it. 

"  But  the  present  question  seems  rather  to  be  this  : — whether, 
the  priest  of  your  parish  being  responsible  to  God  and  the 
Church,  and  having  deliberately  deprived  you  of  the  opportunity 
of  receiving  the  blessed  Sacrament  fasting,  you  are  to  go,  for 
months  together,  without  this  Divine  sustenance ;  or  whether, 
under  the  special  circumstances  which  you  describe,  and  the  clear 
evidence  of  the  priest's  responsibility,  you  are  to  receive  unfast- 
ing,  and  to  cast  all  the  weight  of  the  irregularity  on  him,  and  on 
the  Bishop  who  does  not  interfere  on  your  behalf. 

"  I  am  disposed  to  think  that,  if  you  make  it  plain  to  the 
priest  that,  in  refusing  to  celebrate  in  the  early  morning,  he  forces 
you  to  receive  unfasting,  against  your  conscience  and  the  custom 
of  the  universal  Church,  you  are  committing  a  less  irregular  act, 
by  receiving  and  throwing  the  responsibility  upon  the  priest  and 
the  Bishop,  than  by  depriving  yourself  or  suffering  him  to  deprive 
you  of  the  food  of  your  soul. 


308  FASTING   COMMUNION. 

"In  such  a  case  I  would  recommend  a  light   refreshment,, 
without  meat  or  eggs  or  butter,  six  hours  before  receiving." 

James  Skinner. 

Newland,  Great  Malvern,  November,  1873. 

To . 


I  will  not  enter  now  upon  the  old  worn-out  controversy  of 
fasting  or   non-fasting   Communion,  further  than  to   say  that  I 

carefully  read  dear 's  paper,  which  is  like  him — full  of  loving 

thought  for  weak  bodies,  but  of  very  hazy  and  imperfect  concep- 
tions of  canonical  law.  I  have  noted  all  his  points,  and  after 
having  worked  up  the  whole  subject  as  to  facts,  I  mean  to  draw 
up  a  general  statement  of  the  Church's  ruling  by' .which  we  are 
bound.  Meantime,  let  me  say  that  there  can  be  no  question 
whatever  but  that  necessity  has  been  allowed,  by  canon,  to  pre- 
vail in  favour  of  receiving  unfasting ;  but  that  when  you  come  to 

define  what  makes  "  necessity,"  all  the  difficulties  arise.     '$ 

cases  only  prove  that  great  laxity  is  sometimes  found  in  some 
quarters.  There  are  hundreds  of  instances  like  hers  in  the 
Roman  Communion  which  are  no  more  ffood  against  the  ca- 
nonical  law  than  the  similar,  or  rather  the  more  flagrant,  cases 
amongst  ourselves. 

is  very  indignant  about  calling  it  a   "mortal  sin"  to 

receive  unfasting.  But  he  forgets  that  the  sin  is  only  "  mortal " 
when  it  is  done  in  contempt  of  the  Church's  doctrine  of  the 
Divine  presence  in  the  blessed  Sacrament,  and  of  her  discipline  in 
consequence  of  it.  Well,  is  anybody  prepared  to  deny  that  the 
practice  of  unfasting  Communion  came  in,  and  holds  its  ground  in 
this  country,  on  any  other  basis  than  this  contempt  ?  And  yet,  if 
any  one  by  chance  should  receive  unfasting  on  the  opposite  ground 
— of  greater  faith,  and  greater  discipline,  and  greater  reverence — 
it  would  not  be  sin  at  all.  But  would  it  be  necessity  ?  For  the 
generality,  certainly,  the  habitual  breakfast  cannot  be  a  necessity  : 
for  the  sick  there  would  be,  probably  (though  not  for  all  sick),  the 
necessity  for  some  food,  if  communions  came  late.  But  why 
should  necessity  be  urged  for  the  late  Communion  ?    Almost  all 


SPIRITUAL   COMMUNION.  309 

the  mediaeval  canons  enjoin  the  priesthood  to  minister  to  the 
sick  at  such  hours  as  their  necessities  as  to  food  require,  so  as  to 
forbear  forcing  an  unfasting  reception. 

To . 


I  do  not  know  whether  you  expect  me  to  grant  you  a  dispen- 
sation to  eat  before  communicating,  or  to  issue  a  direction  to  you 
never  to  communicate  unfasting.  But,  obviously,  I  have  no 
power  to  do  either  one  or  the  other.  If  ever  there  was  a  case  of 
"  to  his  own  master,"  etc.,  this  is  one ;  and  so  far  as  I  can  see, 
after  fullest  consideration,  it  must  be  left  to  the  individual  con- 
science, and  to  none  other,  to  weigh  the  character  of  that 
"  necessity  "  which  compels  a  departure  from  the  mos  tmiversalis 
of  the  Catholic  Church  of  Christ. 

You  are  distressed  at  infrequency  of  Holy  Communion,  but  it 
is  not  due  to  your  will,  and  He  will  make  up  for  it  in  spiritual 
communion.  We  must  accommodate  ourselves  to  the  law  of  the 
Church,  not  make  the  law  of  the  Church  suit  our  circumstances, 
and  break  it.  At  every  spiritual  communion  for  the  next  month 
take  the  Ascension  as  the  starting-point  for  your  thoughts.  Think 
that  you  are  already  in  heaven,  because  you  are  in  Him.  Be 
there  rather  than  here ;  realize  that  your  human  nature  has  already 
triumphed.  It  is  a  fact :  by  imagination  you  realize  it.  Say, 
why  am  I  overborne  by  this  humanity  ?  It  has  already  triumphed 
in  Him.  Why  should  I  doubt  its  being  nourished  ?  I  will  doubt 
no  more.  In  this  Sacrament  I  take  part  in  all  that  He  has  gained 
for  men  ;  I  will  lay  all  my  needs  at  His  feet. 

To . 


I  feel  deeply  how  much  I  have  neglected  you — except  in 
prayer  for  you,  which  I  think  has  seldom,  if  ever,  been  omitted. 
But  I  am  more  overborne  than  ever  with  work  and  anxiety,  and 
I  am  less  fit  to  endure.  I  am  now  more  dead  than  alive,  and  I 
see  no  prospect  of  any  rest  yet ;  but  rest  is  not  for  us  here  below, 
and  we  ought  to  be  too  thankful  to  be  employed  by  God  to 
minister  to  separate  souls  whom  He  loves,  and  to  know  that,  in 


3IO  SELF-WILL  AXD    TEMPER. 

spite  of  the  gloom  which  envelops  the  Church  visible  throughout 
the  world,  He  is  training  individuals  rapidly,  first  one  and  then 
another,  and  moulding  them,  through  and  in  the  faith,  against  the 
great  final  struggle  with  the  Antichrist,  which  is  nearer  every  day. 

I  am  due  at  Bath  to  preach  on  Thursday,  the  nth,  and  am 

meditating  an  incursion  on and  you  on  Friday,  the  12  th,  for 

a  few  days.  ...  I  shall  then  have  an  opportunity  for  administering 
a  homily  to  you  upon  the  connection  between  "sloth  and  anger." 

If  you  will  only  introduce  that  middle  term  of  self-will  into 
the  problem,  you  will  see  how  sloth  grows ;  and  how,  having 
grown,  it  causes  "  inveteracy  "  in  that  loss  of  temper  which  is  at 
once  a  consequence  of  it  and  a  stimulant  to  it.  Anger,  after  all, 
is  but  a  form  of  the  same  root  of  evil,  of  which  there  are  other  six 
forms ;  and  when  once  you  catch  hold  of  that  root  of  selfishness, 
you  can  see,  with  a  little  penetration,  how  they  all  hang  together 
and  play  into  each  other's  hands.  .  .  .  God  bless  you  ever. 

To  the  Same. 

...  By  all  means  ask  — ■ —  to  admit  you  into  the  Confraternity 
of  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

Remember,  however,  that  such  a  tie,  while  it  will  im- 
measurably strengthen  your  hold  upon  the  Divine  mystery  as  your 
Rock  and  strength,  and  unspeakably  help  you  to  realize  your 
oneness  with  the  whole  Body  of  Christ,  living  and  departed, 
must  also  brace  you  up  to  more  loyalty  and  more  bravery  and 
more  self-restraint,  obliging  you  to  live  more  constantly  in  the 
Divine  presence,  and  forcing  you  to  turn  every  day  and  its 
occupations  into  occasions  of  honouring  God.  You  will  feel  the 
responsibility  of  setting  an  example  of  devotion  to  the  blessed 
Sacrament,  as  being — what  indeed  it  is — devotion  to  the  will  of 
Jesus,  in  all  things,  great  and  small.  .  .  . 

To . 

Easter  Eve. 

Try  and  see,  in  all  events  of  the  week  just  closing,  how  they 

are  our  warning  to  us  against  placing  our  ideal  of  a  Church,  or 


SPIRITUAL  DEPRIVATIONS.  311 

of  personal  safety,  or  of  the  way  in  which  our  salvation  is  to  be 
wrought  out,  in  things  pleasant  and  smooth.  See  how  there  is 
nothing  but  the  lesson  of  trial,  persecution,  hatred,  failure,  and 
all  the  elements  most  against  success.  Learn  that  we  are  safest 
when  most  conscious  of  having  to  endure  suffering  for  His  sake 
— suffering  of  intellect  not  satisfied,  of  imagination  not  gratified, 
of  senses  not  indulged ;  suffering  bodily  and  mental.  There  is 
nothing  more  hazardous  than  having  things  smooth  and  accord- 
ing to  our  own  will.  Apply  this  in  detail  to  the  circumstances  of 
your  life,  inward  and  outward  ;  learn  that  you  must  be  content  to 
do  and  bear  everything  that  God  wills  for  you  ;  learn  to  quiet  the 
impulses  of  the  flesh  when  you  are  apt  to  be  excited  into  self- 
approbation  or  self-pleasing,  or  condemning  and  judging  others. 
See  how  our  dear  Lord  dealt  with  those  who  brought  charges 
against  Him — the  chief  priests,  when  they  charged  Him  with 
blasphemy,  "What  need  we  any  further  witness?"  Conceive 
what  it  must  have  been  to  His  mind,  Very  God — what  the  effect 
of  those  words  must  have  been  on  Him,  who  was  Truth  itself — 
to  be  charged  publicly  with  blasphemy.  And  yet  He  answered 
nothing.  If  we  analyze  His  conduct  before  those  three  tribunals 
— Annas',  Caiaphas',  and  Pilate's — we  find  one  witness  against  our 
amour propre,  our  desire  to  have  our  own  estimate  of  truth  asserted. 
His  whole  bearing  convicts  us  of  this  dominant  passion  of  ours, 
which  He  had  to  bear ;  He  had,  as  it  were,  to  mortify  and  subdue 
the  glory  which  was  in  Him  by  nature  in  order  to  bear  the  punish- 
ment of  our  self-will.  Follow  out  these  thoughts  in  order  to  help 
you  to  humility  in  all  things.  So  use  the  light  you  have.  Who 
are  we  to  desire  a  fraction  of  light  ?  We  leave  what  we  have  un- 
used, and  then  clamour  for  more.  Try  to  live  up  to  the  light  you 
have — to  keep  grace,  not  to  lose  it;  it  is  much  easier  to  lose 
grace  than  to  keep  it,  though  we  have  such  a  liberal  Giver.  In- 
stead of  making  progress,  we  too  often  go  back,  because  self  comes 

in.     Try,  my  dear ,  in  all  things  to  submit  yourself;  to  watch 

the  inner  life  of  purity,  and  love,  and  patience,  and  faith,  and  hope, 
whereby  we  may  approve  ourselves  to  the  Holy  Ghost  as  belong- 
ing to  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  cometh  not  with  observation. 


312  EUCHARISTIC  ADORATION. 

There  must  be  an  external  organization  for  the  carrying  out  of 
God's  designs  ;  but  when  we  come  to  individual  souls,  it  is  their 
relation  to  Him  which  really  makes  the  difference  as  to  a  soul 
going;  further  from  Him  or  coming  nearer  to  Him.  This  is  our 
consolation  in  perplexity  and  difficulties — now  in  these  times 
when  it  seems  as  if  the  world  were  drawing  to  its  close — that  in 
spite  of  all  outward  trial,  wars,  and  suffering,  and  all  external 
signs  and  tokens,  one  thing  never  can  be  touched — the  inner 
relation  between  the  children  and  the  Father — their  absolute  un- 
reasoning trust,  and  that  more  and  more  as  the  end  approaches 
and  the  kingdom  grows  which  cometh  not  with  observation. 

Think  of  the  risen  life  which  you  share  with  your  risen  Lord, 
and  that  that  life  is  a  life  of  perseverance.  While  you  persevere 
that  life  is  in  you.  And  it  is  made  up  of  separate  acts.  You  cannot 
tell  if  you  will  persevere.  You  will  if  up  to  that  time  you  perse- 
vere, and  that  depends  on  your  faithfulness  to  grace  in  life.  At 
the  hour  of  death  it  is  a  supernatural  gift;  but  from  now  till 
then  you  have  it  in  your  own  power,  for  perseverance  depends 
on  prayer.  It  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  fact  that  the  disciples  for- 
sook our  Lord  because  they  had  failed  in  prayer,  "  Could  ye  not 
watch  with  Me  one  hour?"  So  your  perseverance  and  mine 
depends  on  the  diligent  exercise  of  the  habit  of  prayer. 

To . 


If  the  Catholic  faith  requires  us  to  believe  in  the  Divine 
presence  of  the  Second  Person  of  the  glorious  Trinity,  in  His  in- 
separable natures  of  God  and  Man,  in  the  Holy  Eucharist — by 
virtue  of  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  consecrating 
action — then  the  attitude  of  adoration  towards  that  Presence 
follows  necessarily — I  will  not  say  by  the  law  of  logic,  but  by  the 
law  of  our  being,  which  presupposes  a  worshipping  instinct  of  love 
and  fear.  It  is  idle  to  attempt  to  formalize  this  proposition  in  set 
terms  ;  but  it  is  worse — it  is  to  my  mind  almost  blasphemous  (if 
it  were  not  in  itself  so  evidently  the  token  of  imperfect  faith) — to 
limit  and  restrain  it  by  miserable  stammering  negations.  But  I 
must  forbear  saying  anything  more,  except  to  repeat  that  you  had 


FAITH  IN  TRIALS.  3 1 3 

better  pray  more  and  talk  and  complain  less  •  in  your  patience 
possess  your  soul ;  that  is,  command  yourself  in  the  consciousness 
of  the  safety  of  your  soul  in  the  hands  of  God,  "  be  the  earth 
never  so  unquiet "  and  the  raging  of  the  heathen  never  so  great. 
As  yet  your  position  is  just  what  it  has  always  been.  .  .  .  How 
long  this  may  continue  to  be  your  portion,  God  knows.  He  made 
it  for  you  as  an  individual ;  you  did  not  make  it  for  yourself.  It 
enters  into  your  individual  probation.  Perhaps  your  salvation 
may  hang  upon  your  fidelity  in  passing  through  it  according  to 
His  will.  It  is  not  by  our  "running,"  but  by  His  "willing,"  that 
we  are  saved.  He  can  save  us  without  sacraments — ay,  without 
the  Church  at  all — if  He  sees  fit  to  bring  us  into  such  sorrow  as 
that  by  no  fault  of  our  own,  and  without  our  own  faith  and  union 
(subjectively)  with  His  Church  failing,  though  sacraments  and 
the  Church  itself  should  be  visibly  lost  to  our  eyes.  You  re- 
member what  I  said  to  you  at  Holy  Communion  at one  day, 

with  your  difficulties  in  my  mind  and  in  my  heart :  "  They  that 
put  their  trust  in  the  Lord  shall  be  even  as  the  Mount  Zion, 
which  cannot  be  moved."  There  is  the  perfection  of  stability  to 
the  perplexed  soul;  it  cannot  be  moved,  so  long  as  it  rests  and 
waits  and  trusts  in  and  on  Him  Who  is  to  it  Light  and  Truth 
and  Joy  and  Salvation. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

LAST   DAYS  AT   NEWLAND. 

1873-1877. 

' '  If  singing  breath  or  echoing  chord 
To  every  hidden  pang  were  given, 
What  endless  melodies  were  poured, 
As  sad  as  earth,  as  sweet  as  heaven  !  " 

EARLY  in  1873  the  Vicar  of  Newland  was  obliged  to  sub- 
mit to  a  sentence  of  exile  and  rest,  and  to  leave  England. 
From  henceforth  his  life  was  to  be  a  struggle,  most  pathetic 
to  witness,  against  increasing  physical  weakness  and  suffer- 
ing, though  the  mind  remained  as  vigorous  and  ardent  as 
ever.  He  was  upheld  by  hope  of  restored  health  and 
strength,  which  did  not  leave  him  until  nearly  the  end,  and 
by  frequent  gleams  of  recovery.  At  this  time  the  change 
and  rest  told  at  once  on  his  health  and  appetite  ;  after 
a  few  days'  visit  to  Cannes,  and  to  Mcntone,  to  revisit  his 
old  home  of  1857-8,  he  settled  himself  with  his  wife, 
by  the  middle  of  March,  at  San  Remo,  which  was  only 
then  beginning  to  grow  into  a  place  of  English  resort. 
Here  they  spent  many  happy  weeks  full  of  repose  and  of 
hope. 


FRIENDS  ABROAD.  3  I  5 

Mr.  Skinner  interested  himself  deeply  in  an  English 
girl  who  was  ill  in  the  hotel  where  he  was  staying,*  and 
whose  musical  talents  were,  after  her  recovery,  a  great 
source  of  pleasure  and  amusement,  and  almost  all  ex- 
peditions were  made  with  her  and  with  her  companion 
friend.  It  always  seemed  as  though  his  own  great  loss, 
instead  of  shutting  his  heart,  had  opened  it,  and  that  the 
thought  of  the  little  grave  at  home  had  made  him  especially 
tender  to  sick  girls. 

You  have  asked  me  to  try  and  recall  that  time  at  San  Remo 
(one  of  the  friends  writes),  but  our  days  were  so  simple  and 
uniform  that  there  is  not  much  to  tell.  You  know  what  a  power 
our  friend  had  of  making  others  happy  in  his  company;  and 
I  think  this  proceeded  in  a  very  remarkable  manner  from  the 
real  love  with  which  his  heart  was  filled.  In  him  kindness  was 
swallowed  up  by  love.  We  never  thought  of  him  as  kind,  which 
always  seems  to  imply  a  certain  effort  and  self-denial,  but  he 
made  us  feel  that  his  love  and  interest  in  those  he  cared  for  was 
so  real  that  they  were  always  a  delight  to  him,  and  that  the 
self-denial  to  him  would  be  not  to  help  them  or  give  them  pleasure. 
There  was  nothing  about  us  too  little  to  be  an  interest  to  him, 
or  a  source  of  endless  playful  comment.  "The  prairie  bird," 
he  used  to  call  Margaret,  whose  wild,  fresh  ways  amused  him. 
Every  day  our  donkeys,  Piccina  and  Rattina,  appeared  under  the 
pepper  tree  in  front  of  the  hotel,  and,  led  by  little  Giuseppe, 
accompanied  us  in  our  mountain  expeditions,  to  be  used  when 
required  as  legs.     We  used  to  amuse  ourselves  occasionally  by 

*  September  25,  1883. — Since  the  above  words  were  written,  and  while 
these  sheets  are  passing  through  the  press,  she  too,  having  greatly  overtaxed 
her  strength  by  work  amongst  the  London  poor,  has  passed  away, — Margaret 
Leighton,  youngest  child  of  the  late  Sir  Baldwyn  Leighton,  Bart.  On 
September  11  she  dictated  a  few  lines,  saying:  "I  long  to  be  by  your  side, 
as  I  knew  you  were  going  through  that  happy  time  at  San  Remo.  A  bad 
turn  in  this  illness  seems  to  bring  me  very  near  the  brink  of  the  land  where  that 
dear  friend  is  gone."     On  September  14  she  was  at  Rest. 


316  BAYS  AT  SAN  REMO. 

trying  to  alarm  our  friend  for  our  safety,  and  still  seem  to  hear 
his  "my  dear  child,  how  you  do  frighten  me!"  at  flying  leaps 
from  a  bank  to  the  donkey's  back.  Then  there  were  quiet  morn- 
ings on  the  olive  terraces,  among  the  luxuriant  blossoms  of  the 
gladiolus.  He  had  always  a  book  in  his  pocket,  generally  a  small 
volume  of  Drexelius,  from  which  he  used  to  read  to  us,  translating 
as  he  went  along,  and  these  readings  often  led  to  grave  talk. 
And  the  evenings,  how  pleasant  they  were  in  that  little  sitting- 
room  al  terzo,  which  his  dear  wife  had  made  homelike.  It  be- 
came a  home  to  us  also.     I  remember  one  evening  especially, 

when    M ,    who   had   been    dining   out,    came   in   with   her 

hands  full  of  roses  which  she  had  filled  with  glow-worms.  Then, 
when  the  days  grewT  longer,  we  sometimes  spent  our  evenings  in 
the  garden ;  I  never  see  the  almond  tree  in  blossom  against  a 
blue  sky  without  thinking  of  that  garden. 

We  spent  Easter  at  San  Remo.  There  was  a  star  which  used  to 
go  up  with  the  moon  ;  and  I  remember  wre  stayed  out  long  after 
dark  on  Easter  Sunday,  watching  the  two  "lines  of  level  light"  that 
lay  near  each  other,  sparkling  and  shimmering  from  the  horizon  to 
the  shore.     I  have  never  seen  the  same  effect  since. 

Mr.  Skinner  always  Celebrated  himself  on  Sunday  and  Saints' 
days ;  and  after  the  Creed  gave  us  a  short  extempore  address, 
generally  on  the  Gospel.  We  went  with  him  for  about  a  week  to 
Pegli,  and  then  to  Milan,  where  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  him  to 
show  us  the  Duomo,  which  we  had  never  seen  before. 

From  Milan  Mr.  Skinner  and  his  friends  went  to  Stresa 
on  Lago  Maggiore,  where  he  seemed  to  get  better  every 
day,  and  where  he  enjoyed  seeing  his  friend  Bishop  Nixon, 
who  had  a  lovely  villa  outside  the  town.  The  Rev.  F. 
Oxenham  and  his  brother  joined  them  at  Stresa,  and 
with  them  made  a  delightful  four  days'  trip  to  Macug- 
naga,  and  through  the  Val  Ansasca.  Mr.  Skinner  was  the 
life  of  the  party,  full  of  fun  and  of  delight  in  the  pleasures 
of  the  excursion,  pretending  to  be  the  "  padre  "  of  his  "  two 


MONTE   GENEROSO.  317 

sons  and  three  daughters."  In  June  they  went  to  Monte 
Generoso,  where  the  bracing  air  exactly  suited  him,  and 
where  he  had  the  pleasure  of  a  visit  from  the  late  Charles 
Harris,  Bishop  of  Gibraltar,  and  his  sister-in-law,  Mrs. 
Monsell  of  Clewer,  both  dear  friends.  There  the  com- 
panions of  many  weeks  parted  from  him  and  his  wife, 
but  only  for  a  time ;  his  friendship  for  them  was  constant, 
tender,  and  unchanging  for  the  eight  years  and  a  half  that 
remained  to  him  of  life. 

From  Monte  Generoso  the  husband  and  wife  went,  in 
July,  alone  to  Pontresina. 

O,  what  a  delightful  journey  we  had  from  Mendrisio  (she 
wrote),  sleeping  at  Chiavenna,  and  driving  in  an  einsfianner 
from  thence  to  Pontresina,  with  an  intelligent,  amusing  driver,  and 
through  a  magnificent  country  in  lovely  weather.  But  our 
happiness  was  terribly  clouded  over  as  we  entered  S.  Moritz. 
It  was  full  of  English,  and  we  were  stopped  by  some  friend,  who 
told  us  that  the  English  papers  had  just  brought  the  news  of 
the  fatal  accident  to  Bishop  Wilberforce.  The  rest  of  our  drive 
was  a  sad  one  indeed.  The  tidings  have  been  a  shock  to  my 
dear  husband  which  he  has  been  long  in  recovering  from. 

He  writes  to  a  friend  : 

Hotel  Rosegg,  Pontresina,  St.  Bartholomew's  Day,  1873. 

Too  long  a  time  has  elapsed  since  I  acknowledged  your  welcome 
notes.  .  .  .  But  I  am  unequal  to  much  writing,  and  find  myself 
still  obliged  to  give  all   I  can  to  the   "  Synopsis."     The  almost 

fierce  tone  of against  the  precious  medicine  of  confession, 

led  on  by  the  popular  clamour  which should  be  the  first  to 

allay,  has  compelled  me  to  write  a  much  longer  and  different 
preface  from  what  I  had  ever  purposed.  *  .  .  . 

God  is  over  all  truth,  and  especially  over  His  own  gifts,  and 
men  can  really  "  do  nothing  against  the  truth,  but  for  the  truth ;  " 

*  It  was  never  finished.     See  above,  p.  283. 


3l8  LETTER  FROM  PONTRESINA. 

so  that  the  assaults  which  begin  from  ignorance  and  hostility, 
separately  or  in  combination,  are  sure  to  end  in  the  greater  con- 
firmation of  the  blessings  assaulted.  Meantime,  the  assaulters 
bring  their  own  souls  into  grievous  danger,  and  this  is  the  thought 

which  saddens  the  heart,  that should  rush  into  such  risks, 

for  their  own  souls  and  the  souls  of  those  who  trust  them,  by  their 
attacks,  almost  blindfold,  upon  sacred  things  which  the  whole  and 
undivided  Church  has  ever  jealously  guarded  and  retained.  As 
for  ourselves  in  England,  so  for  you  even  more  in  Ireland,  that  is 
what  I  feel  in  this  day  of  crisis  or  judgment.  And  I  can  suggest 
nothing  but  prayer  and  an  entire  surrender  of  the  issue  to  God, 

beseeching  Him  to  protect from  themselves  (who  are  their 

worst  enemies,  by  reason  of  the  ignorance  and  weakness  and  fear 
of  man  which  are  in  them),  and  to  preserve  us,  as  individuals, 
from  all  complicity,  in  thought,  word,  or  act,  with  heresy  or  con- 
tempt of  the  Catholic  faith  and  worship. 

Time  is  everything.  If  God  will  but,  by  His  Spirit,  nerve  the 
Irish  Bishops,  or  any  number  of  them,  to  veto  every  one  of  those 
mad  attempts  to  untheologize  (if  I  may  coin  a  word)  the  language 
of  theology  upon  the  profound  mysteries  of  our  religion,  the  Irish 
Church  may  not  only  yet  be  saved,  but  may  be  purged  so  as  to 
become  the  mother  of  many  saints  in  a  long  future  of  blessing  to 
the  land.  If  otherwise,  she  will  but  fulfil  that  just  law  of  retribu- 
tive justice  which  cannot  be  set  aside.  St.  Augustine,  somewhere- 
enumerating  the  greatest  curses  of  a  land,  reckons  two,  among 
others,  which  I  remember — (i)  the  people  left  without  discipline; 
(2)  the  Bishops  accustomed  to  negligence.  We  are,  at  least,  in 
^eat  danger  of  these  two  evils,  and  of  their  consequences. 

We  are  of!  to-morrow  across  the  Bernina  to  the  Valtelline, 
and  then  over  the  Stelvio  to  the  Tyrol.  We  shall  (D.V.)  reach 
Innsbruck  on  Friday,  and  shall  remain  there  a  few  days,  in  order 
to  rest,  and  to  see,  perhaps,  the  Brixlegg  Passion  Play.  Thence 
we  proceed  to  England'  by  easy  stages.  I  am  better,  thank  God, 
but  I  am  quite  unfit  for  work,  and  dread  the  prospect  of  separating 
myself  from  it,  more  than  I  can  say. 

's   account   of  the   dearest  Bishop  of  Winchester's  last 


RETURN  TO  ENGLAND.  319 

Sunday  with  them  was  very  interesting  and  precious  to  me.  Of 
course,  his  treatment  of  the  "  ninety  and  nine  "  was  mystical ;  he 
did  not  mean  it  to  be  taken  for  the  first  and  literal  interpretation. 
Have  you  forgotten  that  I  read  to  you,  in  some  of  our  walks  at 
San  Remo,  a  passage  from  the  "  Angel  Book"  of  Drexelius,  quoting 
St.  Hilary  and  St.  Bridget  (after  St.  Ambrose),  and  giving  precisely 
that  explanation,  or  rather  application,  which  the  Bishop  gave  ? 
I  quote  the  "  Horologium  "  of  Drexelius  : — "  Mediolanensis  Prsesul 
Ambrosius  quosdam  sentire  ait  numerum  Angelorum  nonagies 
novies  majorem  esse  omni  numero  hominum,  idque  confirmari  e 
Capite  XV.  S.  Lucas,  ubi  de  Pastore  sermo  qui  99  oves  deserit ;  ut 
errabundam  unicam  reperiat  :  itaChristus,  ajunt,  Angelos  deseruit, 
et  in  hanc  incultissimum  eremum  demigravit,  ut  humanum  genus 
ab  errore  revocaret.     Ita  sentit  D.  Hilarius  et  S.  Brigita." 

The  bracing  climate  of  the  Engadine  was  of  much  use 
to  Mr.  Skinner,  and  after  a  tour  in  the  Tyrol  he  returned 
to  England,  and  early  in  November  was  settled  once  more 
in  his  beloved  home.  Then  again  the  accounts  of  his 
health  began  to  vary. 

The  cold  and  damp  of  the  last  few  days  have  reduced  me  to 
my  old  state  of  nervous  weakness  and  unfitness  (he  says,  shortly 
after  his  return).  I  feel  terribly  disheartened  at  my  weakness. 
God  help  me,  and  bring  me  meekly  to  bow  to  His  will. 

In  December  he  says — 

I  am  up  to  very  little  writing,  beyond  what  falls  to  me  of  neces- 
sity, which  is  no  small  share.  And  I  have  been  very  seedy,  from 
time  to  time,  and  up  to  nothing.  On  the  whole,  however,  I  am 
very  thankful  to  be  no  worse ;  and  as  I  rest  mostly  on  alternate 
mornings,  I  manage  to  "get  along." 

So  he  struggled  on,  until  the  end  of  January,  1874,  when 
Canon  King  and  the  Rev.  F.  Eichbaum  came  to  the 
Warden's  Lodge  to  arrange  about  setting  on  foot  the  scheme 


320  LETTER  FROM  FATHER  BENSON. 

of  a  Clergy  House  of  Rest,  which  had  long  been  anxiously- 
desired  by  Mr.  Skinner.  But  he  took  cold  while  standing 
about  examining  the  house,  and  for  many  weeks  was  en- 
tirely laid  up  by  a  severe  and  suffering  attack  of  bronchitis, 
the  worst  that  he  had  had  for  years.  Yet  he  rallied  suffi- 
ciently to  begin  work  again  in  the  middle  of  Lent,  preach- 
ing on  March  15,  sitting  in  the  pulpit,  and  giving  instruc- 
tions after  Evensong  on  week-days.  "  My  Lents  are  over," 
he  said  one  day  ;  he  gave  the  Three  Hours'  Meditation  on 
Good  Friday,  but  it  was  for  the  last  time. 

Father  Benson  writes  to  him  of  the  "  Synopsis,"  at 
which  he  worked  whenever  he  had  time  or  strength  for  it : 

Cowley  St.  John,  March  30,  1874. 

My  dear  Skinner, 

I  have  both  of  your  letters — many  thanks.  Your 
"Synopsis"  will  be  very  valuable.  It  must  have  taken  a  vast 
amount  of  labour  to  work  it  out,  and  the  chronological  table  of 
authorities  is  most  useful.  A  few  lines  of  remark — I  will  not  say 
to  each  name,  but  to  those  which  you  are  yourself  most  familiar 
with — expressing  what  school  of  casuistry  the  writer  belonged  to, 
would  be  a  very  great  help  in  letting  people  know  what  they  had 
to  look  for  in  his  writings.  Of  course,  this  could  not  be  done  for 
all  the  names  by  any  one  man  ;  but  if  it  was  only  done  for  those 
which  you  know  readily,  it  would  be  a  great  help. 

I  tremble  at  the  idea  of  a  course  of  lectures,  all  the  more  for 
its  being  such  a  short  one.  What  to  say  in  six  lectures  I  really 
do  not  know,  but  I  have  a  programme  put  into  my  hands  which 
Wood  drew  up.  As  for  books,  I  really  grieve  to  say  they  are 
names  to  me  and  nothing  more.  I  never  get  any  time  for  reading. 
You  speak  of  my  work.  It  is  a  great  mercy  to  have  strength  to 
go  on,  but  although  there  is  not  a  great  many  years'  difference 
between  us,  nevertheless  my  work  is  only  the  reaping  of  the  work 
done  by  yourself  and  others  a  few  years  before  I  began.     I  hope 


LETTER  FROM  CANON  CARTER.  321 

you  will  have  health  restored  for  much  work,  although  it  may  be 
of  a  cloistered  student  character.  We  want  some  men  to  teach 
us  something  not  altogether  impromptu. 

May  all  the  blessings  of  this  season  be  abundantly  vouchsafed 
to  you.  Bodily  weakness  is  a  great  gift  to  the  soul  for  Passion-tide. 
In  health  we  may  think  about  the  Passion,  but  in  weakness  of 
body  we  become  absorbed  into  it  to  live  by  its  power. 

Yours  affectionately, 

R.  M.  Benson. 

To  Canon  Carter  Mr.  Skinner  writes  as  to  the  possi- 
bility of  a  concordat  upon  matters  of  ritual  : 

Newland,  April  16,  1874. 

My  dearest  Carter, 

Dr.  Pusey  has  sent  me  your  letter  to  him,  but  I  must 
abstain  just  now  from  the  general  question,  as  I  have  only  time  to 
reply  to  the  circular,  and  to  state  what  I,  for  one,  would  be 
content  with  as  a  "  standard  of  ritual." 

But  I  venture  to  differ  from  the  suggestion  which  has 
occurred  to  your  far  better  balanced  mind,  with,  therefore,  the 
greatest  mistrust  of  my  own.  I  mean  your  proposition  of  two 
categories  of  ritual :  one  "  absolutely  required,"  and  the  other 
"  dependent  on  the  sympathies  of  congregations."  The  second 
category — would  it  not  be  a  confession  of  non-essential  and  com- 
paratively unimportant  things,  of  which  the  Bishops  might  say 
with  reason,  "  Well,  if  you  admit  that  these  things  are  to  be  left 
dependent  on  the  people's  tastes,  you  admit  they  involve  very 
little  ;  and  therefore  we  will  cut  them  off  altogether  "  ? 

My  own  view  is,  that  ritual  is  not  absolutely,  in  any  sense,  of 
the  essence  of  worship ;  though  constituted  as  men  are,  they  can 
hardly  worship  together  without  it. 

I  should  think  it  better  to  put  all  ritual  on  the  same  footing ; 
and  to  say,  generally,  that  as  we  must  have  some  ritual,  and  as 
there  is  a  Catholic  ritual,  which  the  use  of  the  Christian  Church 
has  sanctified,  it  is  more  according  to  the  mind  of  the  English 
Church  to  use  that  which  all  Christendom  has  authorized,  than  to 

Y 


322  USAGE   OF  CHRISTENDOM. 

invent  one  of  her  own.  All  ritual  which  the  Church  has  authorized 
by  use  is  the  expression  of  the  faith  of  the  Church.  There  is 
nothing  which  does  not  teach  something.  The  importance,  there- 
fore, of  the  matters  of  faith  expressed  is  the  measure  of  the 
importance  of  the  ritual  which  expresses  it. 

I  suppose  there  is  nothing  important  for  itself,  and  nothing 
unimportant  which  expresses  the  faith  ;  so  that  anything  which 
should  be  left  "dependent  upon  the  sympathies  of  congregations  " 
ought  to  be,  or  might  be,  wholly  excluded  ? 

1.  for  one,  would  rather  say  to  the  Bishops,  "  Here,  my  Lords, 
is  the  minimum  of  ritual  to  which,  I  believe,  the  English  Church 
is  entitled.  I  am  quite  content  to  be  restrained  within  that 
minimum,  until  a  competent  authority  shall  enforce  a  uniform 
order  of  worship  everywhere.  If  your  Lordships  will  concede  this 
claim  to  me,  I  will  pledge  myself  not  only  not  to  go  beyond  it, 
but  to  submit  to  your  fatherly  counsel,  in  all  questions  which 
may  arise  between  me  and  my  congregation,  as  to  the  time  and 
mci7iner  of  introducing  it,  for  the  first  time,  in  our  common 
worship." 

Then  the  ritual  with  which  I  would  be  content  would  be 
that  generally  laid  down  as  really  "  lawful  "  by  the  judgments  of 
Sir  R.  Phillimore,  based  upon  the  First  Book  of  Edward  VI. 
These,  I  think,  include — 

i.  The  eastward  position. 

2.  The  vestments  (priest  and  altar). 

3.  The  lights. 

4.  The  mixed  chalice. 

5.  The  wafer  bread. 

I  will  write  to  you  a  separate  letter  on  the  great  general 
question. 

Ever  affectionately  yours, 

James  Skinner. 

To  a  friend  who  had  asked  for  information  as  to 
books  of  plain  teaching  on  the  Apostolical  Succession,  he 
writes  : 


VISIT  TO   IRELAND.  323 

Newland,  April  28,  1874. 

.  .  .  Mr.  Perceval,  your  relation,  wrote  a  capital  tract,  or  little 
book  rather,  upon  the  "Apostolical  Succession,"  which,  for  popular 
purposes,  I  have  never  seen  superseded. 

Ask to  let  your  cousin  read  Hugh  James  Rose's  sermons 

on  "  The  Commission  of  the  Clergy,"  preached  before  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge  in  1826.  Sermon  II.  is  to  her  point,  and 
in  the  Appendix,  No.  VI.,  there  is  an  analysis  of  Courayer's  book 
which  will  interest  her  much. 

If has  the  works  of  Jones  of  Nayland,   in  the  fourth 

volume  is  his  "  Essay  on  the  Church,"  which  is  invaluable. 

As  the  summer  advanced  Mr.  Skinner  revived,  and  was 
able  to  conduct  two  priests'  Retreats — one  at  the  Clergy 
House  of  Rest  at  Malvern  Link,  which  was  now  fairly 
afloat,  and  of  which  he  was  honorary  Warden  ;  the  other  at 
Stratford-on-Avon.  In  August  he  went  for  a  fortnight  to 
friends  in  Ireland,  and  was  able,  on  his  return,  to  get  fairly 
through  his  work.     He  writes  in  September : 

I  have  never  ceased  to  consider  how  wonderfully  kind  all  my 
Irish  friends  have  been,  at  your  instigation,  who  are  the  kindest  of 
all.  But,  unfortunately,  this  consideration  had  no  effect  whatsoever 
upon  the  intruders  upon  my  time  in  the  form  of  persons  and 
letters,  which  have,  literally,  never  ceased  since  I  entered  the 
house. 

The  numbers  of  men  and  women  and  priests  and  candidates 
for  orders  who  want  help  seems  to  be  increasing,  if  I  may  judge 
from  those  who  frequent  so  unworthy  an  "  oracle  "  as  myself,  and 
the  programme  of  our  action,  in  preparing  for  our  defence  in  the 
coming  crisis,  occupies  much  thought  and  time. 

Alas !  a  sharp  attack  of  bronchitis  in  December  brought 
a  positive  veto  from  his  doctor  against  his  venturing  to 
encounter  an  English  spring,  but  he  was  allowed  to  remain 


324  WINTER  AT  CANNES. 

at  home  until  February,  1875,  and  writes  to  a  friend  on 
Christmas  Day,  1874: 

Thank  God  for  His  past  and  undeserved  mercies  !  I  was  able 
to  celebrate  the  early  Communion,  and  to  sing  it  chorally.  O,  it 
was  so  bright  and  beautiful ;  the  altar  and  chancel  gorgeous  with 
light  and  flowers  and  all  sweet  tokens  of  joy.  The  little  choir 
took  me  quite  by  surprise ;  I  had  not  expected  to  be  able  to 
sing ;  but  they  were  ready  and  in  full  force,  and  so  I,  too  grate- 
fully, led  the  way.  We  had  sixty-two  communicants  at  that  early 
hour,  and  in  the  slush  of  mixed  frost  and  thaw  and  snow-covered 
roads.  I  was  very  tired  ;  but  nevertheless  preached  after  Mattins, 
and  I  have  been  to  Evensong,  and  sang  the  office,  besides  taking 
a  "lusty  "  share  in  the  carols.  It  has  been  an  unspeakable  grace 
of  God  to  me,  to  grant  me,  contrary  to  all  expectation,  such  a 

blessed  Christmas  Day.     I  only  hope  and  pray,  my  dearest , 

that  He  has  been  gracious  to  you,  if  not  exactly  in  like  manner, 
yet  in  equal,  if  not  greater  power,  by  manifesting  His  precious 
love  to  your  soul,  through  silent  and  hidden  tokens  of  His  peace, 
conveyed  (it  may  be)  all  the  more  deeply  because  with  so  little 
outward  demonstration  or  cognizance  of  the  natural  sense.  The 
Lord  is  not  "  bound,"  even  by  what  most  helps  us. 

What  you  have  missed  by  missing  a  sight  of  Andilly !  I  am 
disposed  to  quarrel  with  your  estimate  of  the  Spanish  scholastic 
learning  created  and  sustained  at  Alcala  and  Salamanca. 

The  next  letter  is  from  Cannes  : 

February  21,  1875. 
I  have  been  very  unwell  ever  since  my  arrival  here.  Never 
has  there  been  known,  at  least  for  twenty  years,  such  a  severe 
season.  On  this  side  Marseilles,  which  is  usually  the  introduction 
into  "paradise,"  we  entered  a  country  covered  with  snow.  .  .  .  lam 
more  and  more  out  of  humour  with  Cannes.  Snow  and  hail  and 
rain  and  mistral  and  sunless  days  out  of  doors,  while  within  are 
nothing  but  draughts  and  chills,  and  miserable  bois  which  will 
not  burn. 


SUMMER  AT  NEWLAND.  325 

So  the  husband  and  wife  went  to  Hyeres,  which  suited 
him  well,  and  after  a  tour  in  the  Pyrenees  returned  home 
in  June.* 

Newland,  June  9,  1875. 

I  have  been  in  England  just  a  week,  but  most  of  it  in  London, 
contending  with  furious  suns  and  still  more  piercing  east  winds, 
and  rushing  about  on  various  necessary  labours ;  so  that  I  felt 
disposed  to  say,  what  I  could  not  help  thinking  was  true,  that  my 
absence  had  done  nothing  for  me  in  the  way  of  strength  and 
power.  I  got  home  here  on  Friday  night,  all  alone,  and  felt  very 
sad  and  melancholy,  in  spite  of  the  joy  of  returning  to  my  precious 
church  and  people.  ...  I  could  hardly  get  through  my  work  on 
Sunday ;  but  I  Celebrated  and  preached,  and  again  did  so  yester- 
day, and  I  am  getting  straight. 

I  remember  you  and  Ireland  in  my  daily  prayers,  and  espe- 
cially that  grand  Christian  gentle  prelate,  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 
whom  I  saw,  to  my  heart's  satisfaction,  for  a  really  good  visit 
when  I  was  in  town,  and  who  kindly  condescended  to  talk  with 
me  of  what  hangs  heaviest  on  his  dear  large  heart.  He  has  been 
most  mercifully  led,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  stand  as  St.  Athanasius 
would  have  stood  in  his  place. 

The  summer  of  1875  was  fine  and  hot,  and  was  a  time 
of  rest  and  blessing  at  Newland.  Never,  perhaps,  had  the 
vicar's  preaching  been  more  full  of  deep  instruction,  and 
never  had  all  outward  things  been  more  lovely.  Once 
more,  as  in  past  days,  friends  gathered  around  him — the 
young,  in  whom  he  delighted,  and  others  with  whom,  in  the 
summer  evenings  when  work  was  done,  there  were  long 
talks,  both  gay  and  grave,  out  of  doors  or  in  the  conserva- 
tory. They  could  hardly  be  without  fruit  in  the  future  to 
those  whom  unconsciously  he  taught. 

But  as  soon  as  the  autumn  and  early  winter  set  in  he 

*  His  daughter-nieces  had  both  married. 


326  SPRING  IN  ITALY. 

fell  back  again,  and  Dr.  Andrew  Clark  thought  so  seriously 
of  his  case  that  he  ordered  him  to  leave  England  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  he  had  to  submit  to  another  winter  and 
spring  of  banishment  and  wandering  ;  first  at  Mentone 
and  Rapallo,  and  afterwards  at  Spezia,  Pisa,  and  Florence. 
He  just  held  his  own  during  this  time ;  always  bright  and 
ready  to  find  enjoyment,  though  anything  requiring  exer- 
tion was  a  difficulty  to  him.  At  Spezia  almost  all  our  days 
were  spent  in  a  boat  on  the  gulf,  and  this  suited  him,  and 
gave  him  strength  for  the  time,  so  that  he  could  enjoy 
strolls  about  the  shores  above  Lerici  and  San  Terenzo,  and 
was  able  to  Celebrate  on  Sundays  and  holy  days,  never 
omitting  his  little  instruction  after  the  Creed,  although 
only  given  to  two  or  three. 

April  and  May  at  Florence  was  also  a  happy  time,  in 
apartments  in  the  Via  Montebello,  where  Mr.  Skinner 
greatly  enjoyed  the  rest  from  hotels  and  tables  d'kote,  and 
the  family  life,  with  daily  drives  in  the  neighbourhood,  to 
Fiesole,  or  Lorenzo  de'  Medici's  Villa,  or  the  Certosa,  all  of 
which  he  made  delightful  to  the  little  circle  of  friends  who 
were  continually  together. 

Early  in  June,  1876,  he  was  again  at  Newland,  when 
his  wife  wrote  : 

I  really  think  he  is  much  the  same  as  when  we  parted  from 
you,  every  now  and  then  seeming  unfit  for  anything,  so  feeble,  no 
appetite,  depressed,  and  coughing  a  good  deal.  Then  he  will 
pick  up  again,  and  be  another  man,  and  seem  so  much  better. 
But  at  best  he  is  not  good  for  much,  and  I  certainly  think  that 
I  never  saw  him,  at  this  time  of  year,  so  poorly  as  he  is  now.  As 
to  our  future,  we  seldom  discuss  it. 

He  did  not,  of  course,  mend  as  the  autumn  advanced, 


LAST  CHRISTMAS  AT  NEWLAND.  2>27 

although  working  and  preaching  through  the  summer  ;  and 
now  thought  it  right  to  consult  his  Bishop  on  the  question 
of  resigning  his  living,  as  it  seemed  plain  that  he  could 
never  again  hope  to  work  through  a  winter  at  Newland. 
The  Bishop  of  Worcester  was,  as  ever,  most  kind  and 
fatherly,  strongly  deprecating  the  project  of  resignation, 
and  saying  that  so  easy  a  post  as  Newland  seemed  exactly 
suited  to  one  in  feeble  health,  since  he,  the  Bishop,  was 
quite  prepared  to  give  leave  of  absence  during  the  winter 
months,  knowing  that  the  care  of  the  parish  would  be 
amply  provided  for. 

Mr.  Skinner  returned  from  his  interview  with  Bishop 
Philpot  greatly  cheered,  and  hoping  that  he  might  be  per- 
mitted to  remain  in  his  beloved  home,  but  the  trustees 
of  the  almshouses  refused  to  give  leave  of  absence  for  the 
winter,  and  it  was  therefore  necessary  that  he  should  either 
resign  his  wardenship,  or  spend  the  winter  in  England. 
In  this  perplexity,  he  was  induced  to  try  the  effect  of 
Turkish  baths  at  Bristol  for  a  fortnight,  and  the  benefit  he 
received  was  at  first  so  great  that  he  was  full  of  hope  that 
it  might  please  God  to  restore  him  to  health.  The  ap- 
parent spring  towards  recovery  was  only  temporary ;  he 
spent  Advent  and  Christmas  for  the  last  time  in  the  home 
and  the  church  which  he  had  formed  ;  but  it  was  a  sorrow- 
ful time,  the  last  effort  of  a  strong  heart  to  work  with 
failing  strength  in  a  climate  unfit  for  him  in  winter.  Those 
who  watched  the  struggle  often  felt  as  though  he  must 
faint  and  die  at  the  very  foot  of  the  altar  ;  and  only  his 
indomitable  spirit  enabled  him  to  get  through  the  services 
which  he  undertook.  In  February,  1877,  a  few  weeks'  leave 
enabled  him  again  to  try  the  baths  at  Bristol,  and  there, 


328  EASTER  AT  BRISTOL. 

cut  off  from  all  he  most  valued,  he  spent  Lent  and  Easter, 
a  trying  time,  although  brightened  by  the  constant  and 
devoted  kindness  of  Archdeacon  and  Mrs.  Norris.  It  was 
not  without  its  fruits,  even  for  others.  "  I  think  I  learned 
more  from  him,  in  some  ways,  than  from  any  other  clergy- 
man," was  said  after  his  death  by  one  who  often  came  to 
visit  a  friend  who  was  with  him  at  Bristol.  "  Do  you  not 
remember  how,  when  dusk  came  on,  he  used  to  close  his 
book,  and  join  in  our  conversation  ?  He  said  things  then 
which  I  have  never  forgotten." 

On  Easter  Eve,  1877,  he  wrote  to  an  invalid  friend  : 

I  deeply  sympathize  with  you  in  all  the  appare?it  loss,  the  loss 
in  external  brightness  and  consciousness  of  joy  in  outward  things, 
which  this  discipline  entails  (perhaps  you  do  know  that  in  my 
own  little  measure,  I  have  had  something  of  the  same  kind  to  go 
through  this  Lent  and  Easter,  so  that  I  can  have  "  compassion  ")  j 
but  what  is  our  loss  in  such  respects  in  the  balance  over  against 
the  unnumbered  respects  in  which  we  are  gainers  through  His 
sacrament  of  obedience  ? 

Yet  a  few  days  more  of  hope  and  brightness  were 
granted  to  him  in  his  home.  He  returned  there  in  April, 
and  for  about  a  month  made  a  quick  strange  rally,  preach- 
ing with  all  his  old  force  :  appetite  and  sleep  returned, 
and  with  them  strength  and  energy.  There  was  one  last 
blessed  Ascension  Day  in  his  church,  but  the  improvement 
did  not  continue  so  as  to  give  him  a  prospect  of  spending 
any  winter  at  Newland,  and  nothing  remained  for  him  but 
to  resign  his  post.  He  went  to  London  to  consult  two 
eminent  physicians. 

I  was  not  a  little  anxious  (his  wife  wrote  in  June)  to  hear 
the  doctors'  report  of  him.     On  the  whole  it  was  certainly  satis- 


LETTERS  FROM  DR.   PUSEY.  329 

factory,  although  their  verdict — namely,  that  he  nmst  rest  from 
work  for  a  while,  and  that  he  must  7iot,  positively,  be  here  for  the 
winter — means,  without  doubt,  that  our  days  at  this  sweet,  blessed 
home  are  numbered.  I  am  looking  it  all  in  the  face  now,  and 
know  it  must  be. 

Amongst  those  who  had  been  the  most  anxious  that 
this  should  be  averted,  was  Dr.  Pusey,  who  strongly  pressed 
upon  his  friend  the  duty  of  appealing  to  the  trustees  to 
grant  the  winter's  leave  of  absence,  which  the  Bishop  had 
expressed  his  willingness  to  give. 

I  hoped  (Dr.  Pusey  wrote)  that  so  appealed  to  they  would  not 
have  deprived  you  of  your  home.  Do  you  remember  that  out- 
burst of  Meg  Merrilies  to  Bertram,  who  had  deprived  her  tribe  of 
their  home  ?  I  ever  thought  it  very  eloquent  and  touching.  It 
was  done  then.  I  wish  there  were  a  Meg  Merrilies  to  say  it  to 
the  trustees  before  it  is  done. 

He  now  came  forward  to  soften,  if  possible,  the  pain  of 
leaving  Newland  by  offering  his  friend  a  post  which  it  was 
hoped  he  might  still  have  health  to  fill,  that  of  Chaplain 
to  the  Convalescent  Hospital,  near  Ascot.  Dr.  Pusey  wrote 
to  a  friend  of  Mr.  Skinner  : 

Christ  Church,  Oxford,  May  13,  1877. 
I  have  the  greatest  value  and  respect  and  love  for  Mr.  Skinner. 
.  .  .  But  alas !  there  is  no  house  fit  for  him  at  Ascot.  .  .  .  The 
pines  make  it  a  wonderful  air,  and  the  ground  is  very  dry,  but 
there  is  no  house  for  one  accustomed  to  the  thick  walls  at  New- 
land  and  its  beautiful  view.  It  is  but  half  finished.  In  fact, 
there  is  but  one  beautiful  ward,  an  unfinished  chapel,  and  rooms 
for  the  Sisters  ;  but  splendid  capacities.  It  seems  a  pity  to  build 
a  convalescent  home  elsewhere,  while  there  are  such  capacities 
here.  The  pines  make  Arcachon  and  Bournemouth  what  they 
are ;  Bournemouth,  the  best  place  on  our  southern  coast. 


330  RESIGNATION  OF  NEWLAND  PARISH. 

Later  he  writes  to  the  same  friend  : 

I  sent  your  former  letter  to  M.  E.  Bertha,*  but  to  the  wrong 
direction. 

I  cannot  doubt  but  that  she  would  be  delighted  with  the  plan, 
only  it  seems  too  good  to  be  realized.  The  difficulty  is  about  the 
house.  ...  But  this  is  the  only  hindrance.  A  new  house  takes,  I 
fear,  time  to  dry. 

Dr.  Pusey  was,  with  his  characteristic  hopefulness,  so 
anxious  that  Mr.  Skinner  should  have  the  benefit  of  the 
healthy  air  of  Ascot,  and  the  hospital  the  benefit  of  his 
services,  that  the  difficulty  as  to  a  house  was  overcome. 

In  another  letter  he  says — 

Everything  helps  everything.  The  more  efficient  the  present 
work  is,  the  more  attractive  it  will  be.  I  do  not  doubt  that  dear 
Mr.  Skinner,  if  God  continues  him  to  us,  will  be  of  the  greatest 

use.     I  hope  that will  be  able  to  obtain  for  us  subscribers 

who  will  enable  us  to  continue  the  charity  to  the  crowded  East 
End  poor,  who  have  no  other  friends,  yet  need  change  of  air  more 
than  we  in  our  ailments,  because  the  air  they  habitually  live  in  is 
bad.  .  .  . 

I  am  thankful  to  hear  that  dear  J.  Skinner  is  better.  I  hope 
he  will  look  resolutely  to  whatever  good  work  God  may  have  in 
store  for  him,  and  shut  his  eyes  resolutely  on  Newland.  He  could 
not  have  stayed  there  without  the  trustees'  leave,  f  and  if  he  had 
stayed  there  J  he  would  have  died. 

On  July  4  Mr.  Skinner  sent  in  his  resignation  as  Warden 
of  the  almshouses  to  the  trustees,  arranging  to  resign  his 
parish  and  to  leave  Newland  at  Michaelmas.  One  work 
he  had  the  happiness  of  completing  during  these  last 
months — the  painting  of  his  church  in  fresco. 

*  Superior  of  the  Sisters  working  at  the  Ascot  Convalescent  Home, 
t  Of  absence  for  winter,  which  was  required,  as  well  as  the  Bishop's. 
%  i.e.  during  the  winter. 


COMPLETION  OF  FRESCOES.  33  I 

Begun  years  ago,  on  the  east  wall,  in  memory  of  his 
child,  it  had  been  gradually  continued,  as  offerings  were 
made  for  the  purpose,  until,  by  Michaelmas,  the  whole  of 
the  nave  as  well  as  the  chancel  was  completed,  and  carried 
out  on  a  scheme  which  was  full  of  instruction  as  well  as 
delight  to  the  eye.  It  is  impossible  here  to  describe  the 
loving  and  reverent  care  with  which  each  detail  has  been 
worked  out ;  the  church  stands  alone  in  England  in  this 
respect,  and  in  the  teaching  conveyed  by  its  walls  to  the 
unlearned.  But  it  may  just  be  said  that  on  the  north  side 
of  the  nave  are  represented  the  corporal  works  of  mercy, 
and  our  Lord's  miracles  of  mercy  in  the  arcade  above,  each 
one  of  the  latter  having  a  relation  to  the  fresco  beneath  it. 
Thus,  the  marriage  at  Cana  of  Galilee  is  above  the  fresco 
representing  "  giving  drink  to  the  thirsty,"  and  the  raising 
of  Lazarus  above  the  representation  of  "  burying  the  dead." 

On  the  south  side,  the  parables  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  are  represented  in  the  upper  space,  and  the  Beati- 
tudes in  the  lower  arcade ;  for  instance,  Esther  before 
Ahasuerus  for  "  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,"  the  Annun- 
ciation for  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart." 

Every  moment  that  could  be  spared  during  these  months 
of  preparation  for  departure  was  spent  by  the  Warden  either 
in  church,  superintending  the  execution  of  the  last  frescoes, 
or  wandering  slowly  through  the  precincts  of  the  almshouses, 
as  though  taking  farewell  of  each  stone  and  each  foot  of 
ground,  often  resting  on  the  seat  under  the  elm  tree  that 
shadows  his  child's  grave.  There  he  was  wont  to  talk  of 
her  and  of  her  deathbed  to  a  friend,  and  to  express  his 
thankfulness  to  God  for  her  blessed  rest.  Only  once  he 
almost   broke   down    when  watching   his  wife   at   a  little 


332  LAST  DAYS  AT  NEWLAND. 

distance  amongst  her  flowers,  and  said,  "  We  must  try  and 
get  her  a  little  garden  wherever  we  go." 

It  is  difficult  for  any  who  loved  him  to  dwell  on  those 
last  days,  when  much  of  anxiety  and  wearing  trials  com- 
bined with  the  sorrow  of  leaving  his  home  to  break  down 
what  remained  to  him  of  bodily  strength.  "  I  know,  O 
Lord,  that  Thy  judgments  are  true,  and  that  Thou  of  very 
faithfulness  hast  caused  me  to  be  troubled,"  he  had  taken 
as  his  special  text  when  his  daughter  died ;  and  now  he 
steadfastly  set  his  heart  to  consider  the  same,  and  to  take 
all  sorrows  as  tokens  of  a  Father's  love. 

But  the  frail  earthly  tabernacle  could  not  but  suffer,  and 
he  never  recovered  the  effects  of  special  trials  at  this  time. 
Until  the  middle  of  July  he  continued  to  preach  on  Sun- 
days ;  then,  under  a  strain  of  mental  anxiety,  haemorrhage 
from  the  lungs  came  on,  and  he  never  preached  again  until 
the  Sunday  before  he  left  Newland.  The  following  extracts 
from  his  letters  will  best  give  the  history  of  those  'last 
days : — 

June,  1877. 
I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  bear  the  pang  of  separation  en- 
tirely from  this  place  at  Michaelmas.  ...  I  suppose  that  I  shall 
have  no  choice  but,  being  spared,  to  spend  the  winter  abroad. 
All  being  well,  I  should,  I  suppose,  return  to  England  about  June 
of  next  year ;  and  it  would  then  be  an  unspeakable  joy  to  me  to 
feel  that  I  had  anything  to  give,  in  giving  my  poor  services,  such 
as  they  are,  to  the  work  at  Ascot.  My  doctor  has  assured  me  that 
of  all  climates  in  England  of  which  he  has  any  experience,  there 
is  not  one  more  suited  to  my  especial  infirmities  than  Ascot.  This 
has  greatly  strengthened  and  encouraged  me  to  make  up  my  mind. 
If  it  be  God's  will  to  call  me  to  this  service  at  Ascot  (and  I  am 
comforted  by  the  thought  that  both  the  necessity  for  my  going 
hence  and  the  suggestion  of  coming  thither  are  from  Him),  it  may 


IRISH  DIFFICULTIES.  333 

also  be  His  will  to  restore  me  to  some  renewed  vigour,  that  I 
may  do  something  for  Him,  there,  before  I  die." 

I  do  not  see  what  the  Bishop  of means,  quite,  by  with- 
drawing from  the  Synod,  unless  it  is  the  prelude  to  withdrawing 
from  the  Church.  His  withdrawal  from  the  Synod*  can  but  weaken 
the  cause  he  would  serve ;  unless  he  means  to  weaken  the  whole 
situation  by  saying  "  it  is  untenable."  If  he  means  to  abide  a 
Bishop  of  the  Irish  Church,  the  Synod  wants  his  voice  and  his 
vote,  all  day  and  every  day,  while  it  is  sitting. 

I  fail  to  understand  the  logical  consistency  of 's  advice  to 

every  lay  person  who  ca?i  do  so,  to  leave  Ireland,  as  a  home,  on 
account  of  Irish  Church  difficulties.  ...  If  the  fact  be  so,  that 
there  is  no  longer  the  Irish  Church  left  to  Ireland,  of  course  I 
understand  it  at  once.  But  if  the  Church  is  still  left  to  the 
country,  albeit  under  great  straits  and  some  perils,  and  still  he 
advises  every  one  who  can  to  get  away,  in  order  to  escape  from 
the  Church's  trials,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  where  this  advice  will 
stop.  We  should  all  have  to  get  out  of  England,  for  the  same 
reason,  though  in  a  varying  degree ;  and  why  not  also  the  good 
old  Italian  and  French  and  German  Catholics,  out  of  Italy, 
France,  and  Germany  ?  What  would  be  the  point,  in  reaching 
difficulties  and  perils,  at  which  each  soul  who  could  escape  would 
be  bound  to  pause,  and  say,  "This  stage  has  been  reached,  and  I 
must  leave  my  country  and  my  people  ?  " 

July  2,  1877. 
Since  Wednesday  of  last  week  I  have  been  driven  to  spend 
most  of  my  time  in  bed.  I  have  not  been  so  prostrated  by  my 
chronic  sickness  for  some  years.  I  fear,  therefore,  that  I  cannot 
get  to  Ascot  quite  yet,  so  I  can  only  hope  that  both  the  dear 
Doctor  and  you  will  abide  there  sufficiently  long  to  enable  me  to 
be  sure  of  seeing  you  both.  ...  I  am  afraid  I  can  write  no  more 
than  to  say  how  deeply  grateful  I  am  to  the  dear  Doctor  and  to 
you  for  all  your  thought  of  me.     But  I  wish,  above  all,  that  God's 

*  In  Ireland. 


334  LETTERS. 

honour  and  His  poor  shall  be  the  first  thought,  and  of  me  no 
thought  at  all,  except  in  so  far  as  I  may  possibly  assist  to  that 
end. 

It  will  never  do  to  build  for  me.  Build  for  the  poor,  as  much 
as  you  like,  but  not  for  me,  except  for  their  sake  and  to  their 
good.  All  is  so  uncertain.  Let  us  leave  all  with  God.  Let  us 
pray  to  be  kept  from  marring  any  good  and  gracious  work  by 
thoughts  of  self. 

July  19,  1877. 

Yesterday  we  entered  on  the  thirtieth  year  of  our  dear  married 
life ;  and  we  felt  that  God  is  even  more  gracious  to  us  in  the  trials 
of  the  end,  than  in  the  sweetness  of  the  beginning. 

It  has  been,  all  through,  a  blessed  season  of  patient  and  long- 
suffering  love  and  sweetness  at  His  blessed  hands  ;  He  has  made 
our  married  life  more  and  more  real  to  us,  as  a  sacramental  figure 
of  our  ineffable  union  with  Himself,  in  His  Incarnate  Son.  What 
a  joy  this  is !  and  that  we  are  still  preserved  to  each  other  to  go 
on  together,  whither  He  shall  call.  How  it  helps  us  to  bear  the 
blessed  cross  which  He  sends  with  His  love  ! 

Has  the  dear  Doctor  seen  Beresford  Hope's  appeal  ?  *  I 
should  like  to  know  what  he  thinks  of  its  consistency  with  the 
Devon  petition,  which  has  received  41,200  signatures. 

I  enclose  Mr.  Hope's  letter  to  me,  and  my  reply  to  it. 

I  Celebrated  (D.G.)  this  morning,  and  also  on  Tuesday  last; 
but  I  am  very  feeble,  and  am  torn  with  cough  in  the  late  nights 
and  early  morning. 

August  30,  1S77. 

I  have  not  preached  or  Celebrated,  or  even  occupied  my  stall, 

for  five  weeks.     I  am  such  a  wreck.    But,  please  God,  when  I  am 

free  from  this  dearest  tie  of  my  life  (next  to  my  wife)  I  shall  be 

better  !     And  I  live  now,  in  more  hope  of  the  joy  of  being  with 

E.  B.  P.  and  his  work  at  Ascot. 

*  It  was  signed  by  several  influential  names  amongst  the  clergy,  binding 
themselves  not  to  use  certain  points  of  ritual,  including  vestments.  Dr.  Pusey's 
answer,  on  being  shown  the  document,  was,  "  I  could  no  more  sign  it  than 
Skinner  could." 


DEPARTURE  FROM  NEWLAND.  335 

Mr.  Skinner  preached,  for  the  last  time  in  his  life,  at  his 
own  church  on  Sunday,  September  23.  He  Celebrated  on 
the  following  Saturday,  Michaelmas  Day,  and  left  Malvern 
for  London  on  the  same  day,  with  his  wife.  She  wrote  to 
a  friend  on  the  journey  : 

I  will  try  and  write  you  a  scrap  to  post  at  Reading.     We 
have  really  left  Newland  now,  and  I  am  thankful  it  is  over ;  rest 
and  repose  are  what  we  both  need  now.    Oh,  what  it  all  has  been 
no  words  can  tell !     But   it   is    over   now.     We  had   a  blessed 
refreshment  this  morning  at  that  dear,  dear  altar,  and  it  seemed 
quite  to  restore  me  after  a  very  bad  night,  he  coughing  half  the 
night,  and  both  of  us  too  tired  and  too  sad  to  sleep.    But  we  were 
wonderfully  strengthened  this  morning,  and  have  been  better  ever 
since.     It  was  most  trying  and  touching  at  the  time,  however,  and 
I  thought  my  dear  husband  must  break  down.    The  church  looked 
like  Easter  morning,  so  full,  and  all  decorated  for  the  festival ; 
seventy-seven    received,    besides   others    present    who    did   not 
receive,  and  the  pensioners'   seats  were  full.     It  was  a  striking 
sight,  which  I  shall  never,  never  forget.     Yesterday,  after  Litany, 
to  which  all  the  pensioners  came,  except  Barnes,  who  is  dying,  the 
dear  Warden  gave  them  a  parting  address.     Every  one  was  weep- 
ing,  some  of  them  sobbing,   and  he  with  much  difficulty   from 
emotion  was  hardly  able  to  articulate.     But  such  words  !     Oh,  if 
you  could  have  heard  them  and  taken  them  down.     Then  when 
he  had  given  them  his  blessing,  he  stood  on  the  doorstep,  and 
shook  hands  with  each  one  as  they  came  out.     I  don't  think  the 
first  Warden  will  ever  be  forgotten.     Dear  old  Susan,  it  is  indeed 
sad  to  see  her.     She  is  broken-hearted  at  losing  us.     She  ivould 
have  us  breakfast  at  the  lodge  this  morning,  and  managed  so  well 
for  us,  borrowing  easy-chairs  from  Sister  Matilda  and  all  that  was 
necessary  for  our  comfort,  so  we  had   our  last   meal  there  this 
morning.    The  weather  is  perfect,  and  Newland  was  in  full  beauty 
this  morning,  the  garden  a  blaze  of  colour.     Our  last  act  was  to 
go  together  to  the  dear  grave.      O,  how  peaceful  and  lovely  it 
looked  !     I  am  sure  that  gratitude  was  the  feeling  which  most 


336  LETTER. 

filled  our  hearts.    You  were  not  forgotten  by  us  in  church  ;  would 
that  you  could  have  been  with  us. 

The  Chantry,  Ipswich,  October  4,  1877. 
Just  one  line  (the  husband  writes)  to  say  I  am  arrived  here. 
I  came  last  night,  alas  !  without  my  darling,  who  has  gone  to  be 
with  her  father  at  Middleton.  I  never  saw  her  so  thoroughly 
prostrate ;  it  made  my  heart  ache  to  look  at  her.  And  I — well,  I 
am  no  better ;  but  I  think,  somehow,  I  have  been  enabled  to  keep 
up  with  less  cost  of  suffering. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

ASCOT   CONVALESCENT   HOSPITAL. 

1877— 1S79. 

"For  He  who  once,  a  Heavenly  Child, 
Came  to  a  world  not  clad  in  bright 
Spring-blossoms,  nor  in  gay  leaves  dight, 
But  to  its  winter  bleak  and  wild, 

' '  To  faithful  hearts  comes  evermore, 

When  grief  has  touched  with  finger  sere 
The  glories  of  life's  earlier  year, 
As  never  He  had  come  before." 

In  the  sorrow  of  leaving  Newland,  it  had  been  a  consola- 
tion to  Mr.  Skinner  to  look  forward,  if  it  should  so  please 
God,  to  helping  Dr.  Pusey  in  his  work  for  the  poor  at 
Ascot.  A  certain  number  of  services  were  already  given  at 
the  hospital  by  a  clergyman  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  it 
was  arranged  that  Mr.  Skinner  should  supplement  these 
according  as  health  permitted.  Here  he  spent  the  last  four 
summers  of  his  life,  under  the  same  roof  with  his  venerable 
friend.  Alas  !  Dr.  Pusey's  sanguine  hopes  and  expectation 
that  the  air  at  Ascot  would  restore  him  to  health  were  not 
fulfilled,  nor  would  his  doctors  even  allow  him  to  attempt  a 
winter  in  its  keen  air. 

He  spent  the  winter  of  iSyy-yS  at  Hyeres  and  Cannes  ; 

z 


33$  LETTERS  FROM  H  YE  RES. 

and  his  wife  writes  at  this  time  of  his  suffering  from  "  racking 
cough  both  day  and  night,  making  no  way  at  all.  He  is 
so  feeble,  I  feel  sadly  out  of  heart  sometimes,  but  try  to 
hope  on,  and  practise  patience." 

The  extracts  which  follow  of  letters  from  him  and  from 
Dr.  Pusey  will  best  tell  the  story  of  the  last  years. 

To  a  friend  he  writes  : 

Hyeres,  January  2,  1878. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  put  off  any  longer  expressing,  with  my 
own  hand,  how  much  you  have  been  in  my  prayers  all  this  holy 
tide,  and  how  earnest  is  my  hope  that  it  may  please  God  to  restore 
you  to  some  degree  of  health  and  strength,  if  it  be  His  will,  for 
the  greater  enjoyment  (as  we  count  it)  of  His  other  gifts.  Sickness 
and  weakness  are  His  gifts  as  much  as  health  and  strength  :  it  may 
be  lawful  to  hope  for  the  latter  if  it  be  His  will ;  but  it  is  most 
acceptable  to  be  content — yes,  even  to  rejoice — in  the  former  if  the 
latter  be  denied.  I  have  volumes  to  say  to  you  on  this  head,  and 
a  very  fountain  of  comfort  to  which  I  would  fain  direct  you,  but 
I  must  yet  ask  you  to  task  your  dear  patience  a  little  further.  I 
am  never  yet  able  to  write  without  suffering.  But  it  is  all  with  the 
Blessed  God,  who  orders  the  life  of  His  servants,  not  as  they  will, 
but  as  He  wills. 

Good  Friday,  1S78. 
I  must  just  put  in  a  line  of  love  and  blessing  on  this,  in  one 
sense  the  saddest,  and  in  another  the  most  glorious,  day  in  all  the 
year,  as  this  year  it  synchronizes  with  the  day  of  your  birth.  May 
all  the  glory  of  the  day  at  which  the  angels  eternally  rejoice  be 
present  to  bless  and  comfort  you,  and  to  sweeten  all  the  sadness  of 
it  wherewith  it  may  please  God  to  bring  you  nearer  to  Himself 
through  suffering.  I  think  one  learns  by  experience  that  whatever 
helps  us  to  patience  and  humility  contributes  more  to  our  spending 
Good  Friday  well,  than  any  flood  of  "  opportunities  "  and  "privi- 
leges "  in  outward  things.     You  are  always  in  my  thoughts  and 


LETTERS  FROM  DR.   PUSEY.  339 

prayers,  as  a  disciple  in  the  school  of  patience,  wherein  I,  too, 
have  need  to  be  a  more  diligent  scholar. 

Expectant  expectavi  should  be  our  daily  "  words  to  take  with 
us."  God  give  to  you  and  me  this  spirit,  more  and  more.  I  have 
been  sorely  troubled  lately,  for  my  dearest  brother's  sake,  and  all 
his  dear  ones,  who  are  so  loving  and  united.  But  God  will  bless 
at  *  to  them  all,  I  know. 

Dr.  Pusey  writes  in  February,  1878  : 

God  seems  to  be  gathering  the  wheat  into  His  garner  so  fast 
among  those  whom  one  knows,  that  one  can  anticipate  nothing 
about  dear  Mr.  Skinner.  My  great  hope  is  in  his  illness.  For 
those  are  called  away  whom  one  did  not  expect,  and  those  who 
are  not  strong  hang  on.  Five  whom  I  know  well  have  been  called 
away  since  Christmas,  and  now  we  are  uneasy  about  dear  good 
Sir  William,  f 

Later  on  he  says  : 

I  am  thankful  to  hear  the  improved  account  of  dear  Mr. 
Skinner.  As  for  his  infirm  health,  it  is  the  very  thing  which,  in 
God's  providence,  gave  him  to  us.  Had  he  been  in  better  health, 
he  would  have  been  in  active  work  elsewhere.  The  only  thing  he 
has  to  be  careful  about  is  not  to  do  too  much.  Mr.  Roberts  can 
still  do  whatever  he  does  now,  and  dear  Mr.  Skinner  can  supple- 
ment it  with  whatever  God  enables  him  to  do.  So  I  hope  he  will 
put  that  worry  aside,  and  in  the  words  of  the  hymn — 

"  Do  the  little  I  can  do, 
And  leave  the  rest  to  Thee." 

It  is  an  understood  thing  that  the  house  is  his  when,  and  as  long 
as,  he  can  use  it. 

In  March  Mr.  Skinner  went  to  Cannes,  where  he  had 
another  attack  of  haemorrhage  from  the  lungs.     He  writes  : 

*  The  death  of  Mr.  Charles  Skinner's  son,  Edgar,  who  was  killed  by  a  fall 
'..from  his  horse. 

t  The  late  Right  Hon.  Sir  William  Heathcote. 


340  RETURN  TO  ENGLAND. 

Cannes,  May  21,  1878. 
My  wife  has  said  how  ill  I  have  been  again,  so  no  more  of 
that.  My  doctor  says  I  shall  (D.V.)  come  right,  but  it  will  be 
the  work  of  a  long  time  and  great  patience  ;  so  I  take  up  my 
parable  and  say,  "  As  for  me,  I  will  abide  patiently  upon  the 
Lord,  for  in  Him  is  my  trust.''     There  is  no  such  cure  as  that. 

However,  my  doctor  has  quite  resolved  it  for  me,  that  if  I  am 
alive,  I  must  go  abroad  again  for  the  winter. 

The  mind,  as  is  natural  with  so  corruptible  and  corrupt  a 
weight  upon  it,  is  good  for  very  little.  But  I  try  to  keep  up  my 
heart,  and  to  hope  on,  relying  on  the  unfailing  mercy  and  love  of 
our  dearest  Lord.  I  know,  that  if  it  be  His  blessed  will,  and  for 
the  good  of  any  who  are  dear  in  His  sight,  He  will  use  me  for 
His  purposes,  and  strengthen  me  for  His  use ;  if  otherwise,  He 
has  other  ends  for  me,  which  He  will  accomplish  in  His  own 
way.  And  so  I  abide  in  Him,  and  leave  the  issue  where  alone  it 
is  safe. 

I  never  felt  myself,  before,  how  truly  one  is  but  a  pilgrim 
passing  by  in  this  shifting  and  uncertain  world,  and  how  good  it  is 
so  to  feel  and  so  to  be. 

In  July,  1878,  Dr.  Pusey  had  arrived  at  Ascot  for  the 
loner  vacation.  Mr.  Skinner  was  also  settled  in  his  new 
home,  and  Dr.  Pusey  occupied  his  own  rooms  under  the 
same  roof,  but  was  too  infirm  to  take  any  sen-ices  at  the 
chapel  of  the  Convalescent  Hospital  nor  was  Mr.  Skinner 
ever  able  to  Celebrate  there.  But  he  frequently  gave  in- 
structions and  addresses  both  in  the  chapel  and  the  ward, 
and  those  to  whom  he  ministered  felt  in  their  inmost  hearts 
that,  in  his  own  words,  God  did  indeed  use  him  for  the 
good  of  those  dear  in  PI  is  sight ;  he  quickly  won  the 
enthusiastic  affection  and  gratitude  of  both  Sisters  and 
patients,  to  the  former  of  whom  especially  his  instructions 
were  fresh  life. 


CONVALESCENT  HOSPITAL.  34 1 

One  who  was  at  Ascot  during  the  last  days  before  he 
left  it  for  the  winter  wrote  : 

On  Sunday  last  he  gave  a  most  touching  and  powerful  address 
on  death.  But  I  must  tell  you  a  remarkable  thing,  that  the  Sun- 
day before  his  address  was  on  "  final  perseverance."  A  very 
awful  sermon  it  was,  and  yet  very  comforting  and  most  helpful. 
Just  towards  the  close  of  it  Sister  Frances  was  called  out  of 
chapel,  and  she  was  just  in  time  to  say  the  last  prayers  for  poor 
Jane,  who  died  a  few  minutes  before  the  end  of  the  service. 
Almost  the  last  words  she  spoke  (I  think  Sister  Frances  said  they 
were  her  last),  just  before  we  went  in  to  Evensong,  were,  "O, 
do  let  me  go  and  hear  dear  Mr.  Skinner  preach  !  "  She  had 
been  much  moved,  the  Sisters  said,  by  the  instructions  he  had 
given  in  the  ward.  Certainly  he  is  really  valued  by  the  Sisters 
and  the  patients. 

He  wrote  a  paper  about  this  time,  at  Dr.  Pusey's  request, 
setting  down  certain  principles  which  he  thought  it  im- 
portant to  observe  in  the  constitution  of  any  religious 
community.  Of  this  paper,  which  has  disappeared,  he  sent 
the  following  "  Abridged  Heads  "  to  a  friend  : — 

I.  "Popularity"  (Dr.  Pusey  had  objected  to  me  that  "  popu- 
larity"  was  not  an  end  to  be  desired  by  the  community.)  "  There 
is  a  good  sense,"  I  said,  "  of '  popularity  '  in  which  it  may  mean,  not 
what  the  people  will  in  order  to  pleasure  and  gratification,  but 
what  the  people  need  in  order  to  profit  and  happiness,  and  in 
this  higher  sense  I  must  avow  my  conviction  that,  in  order  to 
practical  usefulness,  a  religious  community  in  England  must  be 
'popular.'"  I  illustrated  my  conviction  by  the  fact  that,  within 
fifty-seven  years  of  the  promulgation  of  the  "  Charter  of  Love  " 
(which  was  a  "  new  departure "  for  the  religious  houses  of  the 
West  under  the  Cistercian  rule),  their  establishment  grew  to 
five  hundred  all  over  Europe,  not  because  the  new  rule  pan- 
dered to  popular  tastes,  but  because  it  met  the  needs  of  human 
nature. 


342  RELIGIOUS  COMMUNITIES. 

II.  Liberty.  "Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is 
liberty."  This  dictum  involves  the  contrast  between  the  spon- 
taneous and  loving  exercise  of  the  Christian  intellect  and  will 
and  heart,  and  the  servile  tyranny  of  fear  and  obscurity,  in  the 
work  of  obedience.  The  whole  question  of  obedience,  in  its 
nature  and  limits,  was  continually  present  to  the  minds  of  superiors 
and  governors  in  religious  houses,  viz.  how  the  wills  of  fhe  many 
are  to  be  harmonized  into  one.  St.  Bernard's  treatise,  "De  praecepto 
et  dispensatione,"  has  been  thought  authoritative,  and  he  pro- 
nounces against  the  mechanical  instruments  of  an  Abbot  or  a 
Prior's  will — "Nihil  me  Prcelatus  prohibeat  horum  qua  promisi, 
nee  plus  exigat  qnam  promisi"  etc. 

III.  The  Good  of  the  whole  Church.  The  provision  that  all 
should  be  free  exists  in  order  that  all  may  be  edified  and  profited. 
Good  or  evil  to  the  whole  body  of  the  Church  is  inevitably  in- 
volved in  these  communities.  Experience,  therefore,  soon  re- 
quired that  none  could  be  set  up  or  carried  on,  except  under 
laws  approved  and  enforced  by  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese  in  which 
they  are  placed.  It  came  to  be  defined  by  canon  that  all 
superiors  must  bring  their  administrative  orders  into  conformity 
with  such  laws,  and  go  neither  below,  nor  beyond,  nor  beside,  nor 
against  them. 

IV.  The  Authority  of  the  Bishop.  The  recognition  of  the 
Bishop  of  the  diocese,  as  supreme  under  Christ,  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  religious  houses  from  the  beginning,  and  from  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon  to  the  Council  of  Trent  it  is  the  subject  of 
canonical  enactment. 

V.  The  Authoj-ity  of  CJiapters.  It  was  found,  as  early  as  the 
rule  of  St.  Benedict,  that  there  was  no  safeguard  to  liberty,  or 
to  episcopal  authority,  within  religious  houses,  except  through 
the  exercise  of  constitutional  rights  by  Chapters.  According  to 
the  privileges  granted  to  the  Benedictine  rule,  there  is  nothing 
to  hinder  a  general  or  even  a  provincial  Chapter  from  dispensing, 
interpreting,  modifying,  explaining,  removing  or  relaxing,  for  a 
time  or  for  ever,  the  whole  body  of  the  statutes,  or  from  adapting 
obsolete  rules  and  usages  to  present  times  and  needs,  or  from 


ELECTION  OF  SUPERIORS. 


0^-^ 


decreeing  them  entirely   de   novo.      St.   Benedict's  rule   was  for 
superiors  "to  do  nothing  without  advice." 

VI.  Superiors  and  their  Election.  Superiors  were  never  chosen 
but  by  the  Bishop  or  by  the  Chapter.  By  the  date  of  the 
Benedictine  rule  (a.d.  526)  the  Bishop  had  lost  the  exclusive 
power,  and  the  provision  (chapter  64)  runs,  "The  Abbot  must  be 
elected  by  the  whole  community,  or  at  least  by  a  majority ;  and 
if  they  make  a  bad  choice,  the  Bishop  or  the  Abbots  of  other 
houses,  or  even  the  faithful  of  the  neighbourhood,  may  interfere 
to  hinder  it." 

This  rule  was  universal  in  the  West. 

The  appointment  of  a  superior  for  life  was  found  an  intolerable 
burden  very  early,  and  the  house  of  Monte  Cassino  demanded 
from  the  Pope  that  no  Abbot  should  hold  office  for  longer  than 
three  years  at  one  time.  The  (so-called)  General  Council  of 
Latran  confirmed  this  concession  which  the  Popes  were  forced 
to  make ;  and  the  annual  ordinary  Chapter  and  the  triennial 
disciplinary  Chapter  became  compulsory  all  over  the  West.  At 
the  latter  Chapters  all  questions  of  reform,  and  of  observance  of 
rule,  were  debated  and  settled,  the  place  of  meeting  for  the  next 
Chapter  was  declared,  and  not  only  were  all  officers  appointed 
for  each  house  for  the  next  three  years,  but  all  delinquent 
superiors  and  others  (if  any)  were  punished  or  deposed. 

The  terrible  winter  of  1878-79  was  severe  even  at 
Cannes,  where  Mr.  Skinner  arrived  early  in  November,  and 
he  was  very  ill  indeed  from  that  time  until  the  middle  of 
January,  often  too  weak  and  suffering  to  leave  his  bed. 

I  lay  it  all  to  the  weather  (his  wife  wrote),  which,  though  less 
cold,  is  miserable.  To-day  is  like  an  English  November,  and 
sunshine  seems  as  far  off  as  ever.  One  of  the  St.  Paul's  clergy 
Celebrated  in  our  room  for  him  on  St.  Stephen's  Day — a  great 
comfort ;  the  first  time  he  had  received  since  we  left  Ascot. 

To  a  newly  ordained  priest  he  wrote  : 


344  LETTER   TO  A    YOUNG  PRIEST. 

Cannes,  Alpes  Maritimes,  St.  Thomas's  Day,  1878. 

My  dear , 

You  have  been  in  my  heart  and  in  my  prayers  all  the 
week;  and  on  this  day,  on  which  the  blessing  so  earnestly 
desired  for  you  has,  I  trust,  come  down  abundantly  upon  you, 
I  make  haste  (as  well  as  I  can)  to  send  you  my  congratulations. 

I  am  not  well,  and  have  other  letters  I  must  write,  so  do  not 
measure  my  love  by  the  length  of  my  letter.  There  is  matter  in 
my  mind  for  a  volume,  if  such  an  infliction  would  not  be  a 
calamity  on  you.  It  may  therefore  be  somewhat  fortunate  that 
I  have  strength  for  no  more  than  a  short  note. 

I  have  observed  that  you  put  on  your  M.A.  gown  on  the  last 
degree  day ;  so  that  you  have  now,  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
arrived  at  what  in  one  sense  may  be  called  the  culm  of  your 
aspiration  in  academical  and  ecclesiastical  affairs.  The  "master" 
is  at  the  top  in  his  own  sphere,  or  faculty,  within  the  university, 
and  is  possessed  of  all  the  franchise  which  is  needful  in  seeking 
(if  he  be  so  minded)  to  teach  in  the  university  or  to  take  part  in 
its  government.  And  the  priest  is  at  the  top,  in  his  own  unearthly 
dignity  within  the  Church,  for  all  purposes  for  which  the  ministry 
exists — for  teaching  through  the  Word,  and  for  binding  up  and 
feeding  souls  through  the  blessed  sacraments.  .  .  .  My  earnest 
and  affectionate  prayer  to  God  for  you  is,  that  He  may  increase 
in  you,  day  by  day  and  year  by  year,  the  light  by  which  you  may 
grow  in  the  estimate  of  the  priestly  office  as  He  sees  it,  and  the 
grace  by  which  you  may  be  enabled  more  and  more  to  live  the 
priestly  life,  and  to  work  the  priestly  work,  for  no  selfish  ends,  but 
simply  for  His  honour  and  glory. 

I  hope  you  will  not  think  that  I  am  sermonizing  you  (for  that 
would  make  me  miss  my  aim)  if  I  add  a  word  or  two  of  affec- 
tionate counsel,  out  of  the  consciousness  which  God  has  given  me 
of  my  own  grievous  failures,  all  through  my  thirty-seven  years' 
ministry,  and  especially  (for  want  of  knowing  better)  at  the  begin- 
ning of  it. 

I.  About  one's  meditation  or  daily  mental  prayer.  It  is  a 
steady  and  persistent  habit  of  this  alone  that  will  keep  one  up  to 


THEOLOGICAL  READING.  345 

the  mark.  As  one  is  remiss  in  this,  one  begins  to  fail  in  energy 
and  heart  and  efficiency — in  everything.  To  the  priest  it  is  life 
and  breath :  it  keeps  God  before  him  always  as  the  end  of  his 
work  ■  it  keeps  souls  before  him  always  as  the  subject  of  his 
work;  and  it  keeps  self  aX  a  distance  as  the  main  hindrance  and 
impediment.  One  learns  to  pray  every  moment  "relinquam  me, 
inveniam  Te."  I  say  nothing  of  the  capacity  which  one  receives 
for  aiming  higher  and  for  accomplishing  more,  through  the  very 
increase  of  consciousness,  as  to  weakness  and  humiliation  which 
one  receives. 

II.  About  one's  celebration  of  the  sacraments.  It  was  some 
years  (alas  !  many)  before  I  ever  found  out  why  it  was,  probably, 
that  my  ministration,  especially  of  the  Blessed  Eucharist,  was  so 
cold  and  so  perfunctory  in  itself,  and  so  little,  apparently,  fertile 
in  fruits  of  conscious  progress  in  grace. 

When  I  had  learnt  never  on  any  account  to  Celebrate  without 
saying  my  office  of  "  Preparation,"  and  never  on  any  account  to 
leave  off  after  Celebration  without  saying  my  office  of  "  Thanks- 
giving," I  found  out,  by  the  gain  which  God  gave  me,  how  great 
had  been  the  loss  which  my  past  ignorance  (for  it  was  nothing 
else)  had  entailed  upon  me. 

Let  me  entreat  you  to  acquire  the  blessed  habit,  and  never  to 
leave  it  off.  Never  go  to  your  Celebrations  in  a  hurry  :  be  in 
church  twenty  minutes,  or  fifteen  before,  in  order  to  have  time  for 
your  "  Preparation,"  and  remain  in  church  the  like  time  for  your 
"  Thanksgiving  ; "  and  do  not  care  to  ask  or  to  know  what  other 
men  say  or  do  about  it.  .  .  . 

III.  About  theological  reading.  Now  the  time  has  come  for 
you  to  begin.  At  the  top  you  are  in  one  sense,  and  no  more 
examinations  need  cramp  your  liberty.  But  you  are  really  at  the 
bottom,  in  view  of  the  overpowering  heights  which  lie  before  you. 
I  know  that  you  do  not  set  up  to  be  a  "  student,"  in  the  sense  of 
a  profound  scholar  and  reading  man ;  but  up  to  a  certain  mark 
every  priest,  the  humblest  as  well  as  the  greatest  in  intellectual 
gifts,  is  bound  to  be  a  student  in  the  Divine  science  of  theology. 
The  difficulty  has  always  been  in  the  choice  of  subject-matter,  so 


34^  LETTER  FROM  DR.   PUSEY. 

as  to  husband  time  and  not  waste  that  measure  of  ability  which  is 
variously  dealt  out  to  each.  Now,  let  me  choose  a  book  for  you, 
which  (with  your  Bible  in  the  Greek,  or  Hebrew  and  Greek)  may 
serve  for  a  summary  of  theological  science — ''The  Sentences  of 
Peter  Lombard."  Don't  be  frightened  at  it.  The  value  of  it  as 
a  help  to  systematizing  and  methodizing  all  your  sacred  studies  is 
simply  enormous.  Persevere  with  it ;  a  little  every  day.  Make 
notes  as  you  go  on,  and  don't  be  deterred  by  crabbed  bits  of 
mediaeval  Latin.  Unless  you  keep  up  your  Latin,  you  will  never 
read  to  any  purpose.  If  you  can  get  a  fellow-curate  to  read  it 
with  you,  so  much  the  better ;  and  don't  be  scared  by  the  word 
"  schoolmen."  Take  people  as  you  find  them  ;  seize  upon  their 
virtues,  let  their  vices  go.  P.  Lombard  may  be  said  to  have 
founded  "  the  schools ; "  but  while  he  gave  us  the  inestimable 
benefit  of  their  method  and  order  and  system,  the  vices  of  their 
technicalism  did  not  come  till  long  after  him. 

...  I  have  now  pretty  well  tired  myself,  and  I  dare  say  have 
also  exhausted  your  patience,  though  if  you  know  how  I  love  your 
and  what  I  would  give  to  insure  your  being  a  happy  and  a  faith- 
ful priest,  you  might  bear  this,  and  much  more  that  I  might  say 
to  prove  it. 

Once  more,  God  be  with  you  always  ! 

Your  very  affectionate 

Ja.  Skinner. 

From  Dr.  Pusev. 

Christ  Church,  Oxford,  First  Sunday  after  Epiphany,  1879. 

My  dearest  Friend, 

I  have  been  anxious  about  the  effect  of  this  very 
severe  winter  upon  you.  I  have  been  afraid  that  you  might  have 
suffered  less  if  shut  up  as  I  am  in  England.  If  we  could  have 
foreseen  it,  I  think  you  would  have  been  better  off  in  my  upper 
story,  which  in  God's  providence  Cardinal  Wolsey  built  for  me. 
I  have  been  here  one-seventh  of  the  time  since  he  built  it.  This 
floor  is  impenetrable  to  cold,  and  I  can  air  the  rooms  by  changing 
them. 


EASTER  AT  CIMIEZ.  347 

I  have  been  longing  to  hear  of  you.  Has  it  ever  occurred  to 
you  to  try  Algiers  ?  I  have  heard  of  consumptive  persons  being 
sent  there  with  advantage.  Malta  was  the  one  place  where 
Froude  lost  his  cough.  France  seems  to  have  suffered  from  cold 
more  than  England.  At  least,  we  hear  of  wolves  driven  from 
their  quarters  in  the  Pyrenees  to  Lyons. 

...  I  hope  that,  please  God,  you  will  be  able  to  give  some 
gentle  help  next  summer  in  your  original  office  of  resident  chap- 
lain which  you  kindly  undertook.  But  we  must  not  wish  you 
more  than  God  gives ;  "  Le  rien  ne  demande  rien,  excepte  Dieu 
toujours  et  en  toutes  choses." 

With  kindest  wishes  to  Mrs.  Skinner  (which  includes  especially 

your  own  health), 

Your  most  affectionate 

E.  B.  P. 

Easter  was  spent,  with  friends  who  had  joined  him,  at 
Cimiez,  which  suited  him  well,  but  he  was  unable  to  Cele- 
brate. His  Lents  were  indeed  "  over ; "  he  could  but 
"  keep  "  the  Three  Hours  on  Good  Friday  lying  on  cushions 
in  a  lovely  garden  near  Vitali's  Hotel. 

From  Cimiez  they  went  by  San  Rcmo  and  Cornigliano 
to  Varese,  where  he  spent  Whit-Sunday,  and,  to  his  great 
joy,  Celebrated  for  the  first  time  since  leaving  England. 
Then  by  slow  stages  to  Nauheim  in  Hesse,  to  consult  a 
doctor  of  great  repute  in  such  cases  as  Mr.  Skinner's. 

Nauheim,  June,  1S7S. 
I  am  much  afraid  that  I  cannot  yet  speak  with  any  certainty 
of  the  future,  as  Dr.  Beneke  says  I  am  "  one  old  Hans,  and  varra 
much  out  of 'repair"  and  though  something  may  be  done,  please 
God,  to  relieve  my  suffering  and  discomfort,  there  is  little,  or 
nothing,  possible  to  be  hoped  for  in  the  way  of  cure.  I  had  two 
hours'  most  interesting  conference  with  Dr.  Doellinger  at  Munich. 
There  is  no  symptom  of  failure  about  him,  though  he  is  eighty. 
He  is  true  as  steel  to  conscience  and  truth. 


34$  VISIT  TO  DR.   DOELIINGER. 

The  following  are  notes  of  this  visit  written  at  the  time  : 

Visited  Dr.  Doellinger  at  Munich,  n,  Von  Ter  Tann  St., 
Tuesday,  June  17,  1879,  from  12  to  2  p.m. 

i.  Newman. 

Had  never  intended  to  wound  him — not  even  that  the  opinion 
expressed  about  him  should  be  published ;  this  through  indiscretion 
of  a  correspondent  who  had  written  to  ask  for  opinion  of  present 
position  of  Church  polities.  But  now,  having  been  challenged 
to  defend  his  own  accuracy  as  to  the  consistency  of  Newman's 
writings  with  Ultramontane  authority,  he  had  a  great  mind  to  prove 
it  by  an  induction  of  examples.  (1)  St.  John  had  great  difficulty, 
though  sent  to  Rome  for  the  purpose,  to  keep  the  "  Apologia  "  off 
the  "  Index."  (2)  The  whole  theory  of  the  development  dogma  as 
advanced  by  Newman  runs  so  counter  to  the  infallibility  theory, 
that  the  book  could  not  fail  to  be  condemned  if  it  were  known  and 
read.  Pope  Leo  probably  never  read  it,  and  would  not  be  in- 
terested in  it  (not  a  theologian  but  a  statesman).  He  would  read 
Newman's  defence  of  the  temporal  power,  and  this  would  suffice 
to  commend  him  for  the  Cardinalate,  added  to  the  great  personal 
merits  of  the  case. 

Asked  Doellinger  to  explain  Newman's  reference  to  the  Fourth 
Council  as  an  explanation  of  the  open  position  left  by  the  Vatican 
Council,  and  he  could  not.  The  Fourth  Council  absolutely 
closed  the  definition  of  the  faith  to  the  whole  of  the  Occidental 
Church,  whatever  difficulties  might  have  remained  standing  in 
the  East. 

"  Newman's  influence,"  he  said,  "  over  Congregations,  studies, 
Propaganda,  Rites,  will  be  nil  in  his  absence  from  Rome  :  no  case 
ever  heard  of  in  which  an  absent  Cardinal  is  consulted.  Hergen- 
rother  will  reside  and  will  influence.  His  wholesale  defence  of 
everything  done  by  the  Roman  Curia  as  perfection  makes  his 
promotion  natural;  but  in  Germany,  in  spite  of  his  respectable 
learning,  such  blind  partisanship  made  him  laughed  at  by  those 
who  know  anything." 

ii.  Rome. 


VISIT  TO  DR.   DOELLINGER.  349 

"  Not  a  glimmer  of  hope  that  anything  done  in  the  past  will  be 
undone.  The  prospect  as  dark  as  darkness,  till  the  Providence 
of  God  reveals  the  day  of  justice  to  all  the  nations  and  all  the 
Churches,  which  will  certainly  be ;  and  there  will  then  be  a  great 
change  everywhere,  though  we  shall  not  live  to  see  it.  But  what 
is  even  a  generation,  much  less  a  lifetime,  in  the  sight  of  God 
working  out  His  own  will  ?  Meantime  the  deliberate  encourage- 
ment by  authority  of  unscrupulous  ways  in  treating  historical 
truth  leaves  no  room  for  hope." 

1.  Manning.  "  I  was  in  London,"  Doellinger  said,  "in  1851, 
when  Manning  had  just  been  received  into  the  Roman  Communion, 
and  he  called  on  me  to  express  his  grateful  thanks  for  being  the 
means  of  this  event,  in  that  I  had  first  taught  him  to  believe  that 
truth  was  possible  to  a  Roman  Catholic  theologian  :  heretofore  he 
had  felt  that  Roman  Catholics  were  compelled  by  their  system 
to  reject  truth,  but  since  he  had  read  my  historical  manual,  he  had 
learnt,  for  the  first  time,  that  historical  truth  was  paramount  as 
the  foundation  of  theology.  This  same  man,  even  before  the 
Vatican  decree  was  pronounced,  made  a  violent  attack  upon  me 
because  I  had  been  so  absurd  as  to  declare  that  truth  was  a  superior 
power  to  any  authority  whatsoever,  maintaining  that  the  Church 
represented  by  the  Pope  has  power  to  gainsay  truth  !  " 

2.  The  latest  theological  light  in  Rome  is  a  certain  Vincenzi 
(to  whose  work,  "  De  Sacra  Monarchic,"  the  Quarterly  Review 
called  Doellingers  attention),  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  Roman 
University,*  and  Keeper  of  the  Aratican  archives.  His  theory  is 
that  the  Old  Testament  contains  in  figure  not  merely  the  principle 
but  the  persojiale  of  Church  government,  {a)  He  finds  in  Moses 
and  the  priesthood  a  variety  of  dignified  offices  and  powers 
which  no  theologians  have  hitherto  discovered ;  and  (l>)  he 
proceeds  to  clothe  the  Pope  with  the  whole  discovery.  But 
coming  to  the  history  of  the  Church,  he  finds  the  whole  body  of 
conciliar  authority  absolutely  silent  on  the  subject — not  so  much 
as  an  allusion  to  these  powers  in  any  ancient  Council  or  decree. 
What  can  possibly  have  happened  but  one  thing — the  historical  ac- 

*  Commonly  called  the  "  Sapienza." 


350  VISIT  TO  DR.   DOELLINGER. 

counts  of  Councils  and  decrees  must  have  been  forged  or  tampered 
with  ?  There  is  no  other  view  of  the  case  which  will  suit  the  dis- 
covery ;  therefore  this  is  the  correct  view,  and  such  a  book  is  put 
forth  pcnnissn  superiorum. 

3.  '-'A certain  Italian  bishop,"  Dr.  Doellinger  added,  "named 
D'Avenzo — I  think  of  Calvi — -has  recently  attacked  myself  in  a 
pamphlet  in  which  he  asks  whether  it  is  possible  for  a  man  like 
Alfonso  Liguori,  a  canonized  saint,  etc.,  not  to  have  known  and 
acknowledged  and  understood  what  he  was  knowing  and  acknow- 
ledging, when  he  admitted  the  Isidorian  frauds ;  and  Dr.  Avenzo 
therefore  argues  that,  when  Liguori  defended  his  moral  theology, 
it  was  not  upon  their  authority,  and  that  I  was  to  be  condemned 
for  my  imputation  to  the  contrary.  But  what  took  place  was 
this.  I  had  said  that  among  Italian  theologians,  of  which  two, 
who  had  been  canonized,  had  adopted  the  Isidorian  decrees — 
St.  Thomas  of  Aquinas  and  St.  Alfonso  Liguori — everybody 
knew  that  the  first  had  been  deceived  into  his  belief;  but 
that  as  to  the  second,  while  in  the  prolegomena  to  his  "  Moral 
Theology "  he  had  been  careful  to  tell  the  world  not  to  trust  to 
the  authority  of  the  Isidorian  decrees,  in  the  body  of  the  book 
itself  he  had  taken  a  whole  catena  of  quotations  from  the  decrees, 
word  for  word,  and  appealed  to  them  as  authority.  Of  course 
Bishop  d' Avenzo  might  have  seen  this  for  himself  if  he  had 
pleased ;  but  it  would  not  have  enabled  him  to  attack  me,  and  to 
have  been  made  one  of  the  latest  batch  of  Cardinals." 

iii.   Old  Catholics. 

"  I  know  very  little  of  what  is  passing;  no  progress  here  :  have 
ceased  to  take  much  interest  since  I  had  cause  to  disapprove  of 
some  of  the  courses  taken." 

"  As  to  Loyson — hopelessly  damaged  in  public  character  in  a 
country  like  France,  where  a  married  priest,  much  more  a  monk, 
is  an  object  of  dislike  and  suspicion,  not  only  among  the  faithful, 
but  among  heretics  and  unbelievers — no  cause  committed  to  such 
hands  could  prosper." 

"As  to  Bishop  Eden  and  episcopal  jurisdiction — you  must 
distinguish.     There  are  three  theological  lines — 


SEA  VICES  A  T  A  SCO  T.  351 

"  (1 )  Of  the  high  Roman  :  by  which  the  moment  a  Bishop,  even 
the  Pope,  becomes  heretical  in  doctrine,  his  jurisdiction  ceases. 

"  (2)  Of  the  Catholic  :  by  which  his  jurisdiction  is  received  so 
'long  as  his  doctrine  is  the  doctrine  of  the  national  Church  to 
which  he  belongs  and  from  which  he  derives  authority. 

"  (3)  Of  the  (say)  Calvinistic  bodies  :  by  which  jurisdiction 
departs  as  in  No.  (1). 

"If  Bishop  Eden  takes  either  (1)  or  (3)  as  his  principle,  his 
episcopal  licence  to  Loyson  may  be  defended  ;  and  the  Archbishop 
of  Paris  should  be  the  last  to  complain,  since  it  is  his  own  view. 
But  if  Bishop  Eden  takes  (2),  which  is  the  view  of  the  late  Bishop  of 
Brechin,  his  course  is  quite  indefensible ;  neither  is  there  any  case 
in  the  history  of  the  Church  of  a  Bishop  passing  into  another's 
diocese  to  give  help  to  the  oppressed  Church,  save  on  the  invita- 
tion of  the  Church  oppressed.  But  there  is  no  such  invitation 
from  Paris." 

On  taking  leave,  and  thanking,  and  asking  him  to  England — 
■"  not  given  up  the  hope." 

Retains  his  Provostship  of  the  Royal  Chapel,  and  chaplaincy 
to  the  King,  who  is  with  him  in  heart.  Work  carried  on  by  the 
Deans  and  Canons  under  him,  who  are  asked  no  questions,  and 
therefore  (though,  at  heart,  four  of  them  are  entirely  with  him  in 
opinion)  say  their  Mass. 

Retains  also  his  professorship,  and  his  nominee  lectures  for 
him  in  theology.  The  Archbishop  refused  to  accept  any  who 
attended  his  lectures. 

No  "  silver  lining  to  the  cloud  "  visible  as  yet ;  but  truth  will 
prevail,  and  what  is  time  in  the  sight  and  the  will  of  God  ? 

By  the  middle  of  July  Mr.  Skinner  and  his  wife  were 
again  at  Ascot,  and  although  the  summer  of  1879  was  un- 
usually cold  and  wet,  he  was  able  to  give  an  afternoon 
service  and  address  almost  every  Sunday  to  the  inmates  of 
the  hospital,  and  an  instruction  on  Fridays  to  the  Sisters, 
besides  Celebrating  frequently  in  his  private  oratory.  He 
says  of  himself — 


35^  THE  HERMITAGE. 

The  Hermitage,  Ascot,  August  I,  1S79. 

Of  course,  such  a  season  as  this  has  been  most  trying  to 
delicate  people  :  but  I  must  not  delude  myself  or  others  by  sup- 
posing that  all  my  failing  is  due  to  weather.  I  am  much  less  fit 
for  everything  than  last  year,  and  can  neither  read,  nor  speak,  nor 
walk,  nor  work,  nor  attempt  anything,  with  half  so  much  power. 
My  consciousness  of  debility  and  helplessness  is  far  greater.   .  .   . 

.  .  .  The  dear  Doctor  comes  to  me,  and  I  to  him,  besides  the 
occasional  meetings  in  the  wood.  He  is  all  sweetness  and  love, 
and  I  never  saw  him  more  vigorous  in  mind,  nor  do  I  find  him  so 
deaf  as  last  year.  He  is  very  keen  just  now  on  an  answer  he  is 
preparing  to  Farrar's  mischievous  speculations,  which  have,  I 
suspect,  led  that  rather  unfledged  theologian  into  deeper  waters 
than  he  knows  how  to  fathom.  The  Doctor  is,  of  course,  quite  at 
hdme  on  these  intricate  and  subtle  distinctions  of  the  Rabbinical 
writers  of  the  second  century  about  Gehenna,  and  is  exposing 
Farrar's  ignorance  in  appealing  to  traditions  which  really  tell  the 
other  way.  I  have  been  working  up  one  or  two  points  for  him, 
such  as  the  witness  of  Josephus  to  the  Jewish  belief  in  the  eternity 
of  punishment,  though  queerly  mixed  up  with  speculations  about 
the  transmigration  of  souls.  ...  He  wants  me  to  undertake  a 
translation  of  the  "  Acta  Martyrorum,"  to  which  he  largely  appeals 
as  evidence  of  simple  faith,  in  a  simple  believing  age,  of  simple 
minds,  in  the  eternity  of  joy  and  the  eternity  of  suffering  which 
God  has  revealed  to  man.  But  I  am  past  all  work,  I  fear  ;  for 
even  a  long  talk  tires  and  excites  me,  and  one  hour's  work  utterly 
breaks  me  down. 

But,  this  year,  no  one  seems  able  to  hold  up  against  the  atmo- 
spheric troubles  except  the  dearest  old  E.  B.  P.,  who  is  perfectly 
well,  and  works  all  day,  while  I  can  do  nothing. 

Almost  daily  notes  passed  between  the  friends  ;  here  is 
one  from  Dr.  Pusey  written  at  this  time  : 

My  dearest  Friend, 

Would  you  kindly  let   me  look  at  Brucker  again  ?     I 
cannot  understand  St.  John  ix.   2,  except  as  involving  that  the 


VISIT  TO  NEWLAND.  353 

disciples  supposed  some  transmigration  possible.  Wisd.  viii.  20 
would  be  true  of  the  Incarnation ;  however,  I  suppose  it  need  not 
imply  pre-existence  of  the  soul.  If  you  have  A  Lapide's  "  Com- 
mentary," I  should  be  glad  to  look  at  it  on  St.  John  and  Wisdom. 
I  fear  that  the  weather  must  prevent  your  getting  on  ;  me  it 
only  keeps  in  the  house,  but  I  use  the  old  remedy  of  Sir  H. 
Halford,  the  physician  of  George  III.,  for  old  people — a  small 

fire  and  an  open  window. 

Yours  affectionately, 

E.  B.  P. 

I  have  been  rather  better  the  last  few  days  (Mr.  Skinner  wrote  on 
Sept.  3).  Dearest  E.  B.  P.  has  been  very  much  out  of  sorts,  in 
the  rainy  weather ;  he  is  now  himself  again,  and  sits  out  all  day 
and  every  day.  I  was  enabled  (D.G.)  to  minister  at  the  deathbed 
of  dear  little  Fanny,  the  smiling  child  who  suffered  from  spine 
disease.  She  suddenly  collapsed,  dear  child,  and  had  a  time  of 
fearful  suffering  in  death.  I  never  witnessed  a  longer  "agony" 
— a  proof,  doubtless,  of  our  dear  Lord's  love  for  her ;  but  what  a 
mystery  !  She  will  be  dreadfully  missed,  and  the  whole  scene 
was  most  touching. 

Malvern  Link,  September,  1879. 
And  now  of  Newland.  The  weather  here  is  simply  horrible, 
every  day  more  or  less  wet,  and  all  the  country  damp  and  chilly 
to  the  last  degree.  But  the  hearty  and  tender  welcome  which  all 
of  every  degree  grant  me  touches  me  deeply.  The  dear  old 
people  whom  I  am  seeing  by  degrees  refresh  me.  Dear  old 
Moulden  (in  bed  and  a  great  sufferer)  wept  like  a  child,  and  held 
my  hand  as  if  he  could  not  let  it  go.  Old  Robert  Lawrence, 
ninety  years  of  age,  with  his  eyes  full  of  tears  :  "  Oh,  if  you  could 
but  say  the  last  words  over  me  ! "  I  have  not  been  nearer  to  my 
old  home  than  the  opposite  side  of  the  quad. ;  I  dare  not  enter. 
Perhaps  I  may  gather  courage  before  I  go.  I  have  great  comfort 
in  the  church,  and  go  and  pray,  and  examine  over  and  over  again 
the  lovely  walls,  and  say  my  Te  Deum  in  thanksgiving  for  it,  to 
Him  whose  it  is.     He  has  quite  taken  away  all  regret  that  I  can 

2   A 


354  LETTER  FROM  DR.   PUSEY. 

no  longer  call  it  mine  in  any  sense ;  and  He  makes  me  glad  in 
the  thought  that  I  had  ever  anything  to  do  with  making  it  His. 
Many  of  the  people  speak  of  you  and  your  visit  here  with  such 
gratitude,  thinking  it  so  kind  of  you  to  have  come  to  tell  them 
of  us.  I  have  not  been  able  yet  to  communicate  anywhere  here, 
but  I  hope  to  receive  at  Newland  before  I  go.  I  was,  thank  God, 
able  to  receive  at  the  funeral  of  dear  little  Fanny  at  Ascot,  the 
day  before  leaving. 

Mr.  Skinner  hoped  and  intended  to  try  and  spend  this 
winter  at  Ascot,  but  in  October  his  doctor  positively  forbade 
his  attempting  it,  and,  as  he  shrank  intensely  from  the 
thought  of  a  journey  and  foreign  hotels,  sanctioned  his 
trying  some  sheltered  place  in  England,  recommending 
Bath.  There  he  took  up  his  winter  abode.  Dr.  Pusey 
remaining  at  Ascot,  wrote  to  him  at  Christmas  : 

Feast  of  St.  Stephen,  1879. 
My  dearest  Friend, 

All  Christmas  blessing  be  with  you  and  yours.  This 
fighting  does  make  one  sick  at  heart.  Melanchthon  in  his  late 
years  used  the  prayer  A  rabie  Theologorum,  Libera  nos,  Domine. 
We  have  great  need  of  the  angels'  prayer  :  "  On  earth  peace,  good- 
will toward  men." 

I  am  glad  that  you  are  well  housed ;  if  you  have  escaped  fogs, 
on  your  hill,  it  has  been  a  marvellous  escape.  We  had  a  bright 
November  here,  but  this  month,  since  the  thaw,  summer  and  fog 
have  alternated.  I  have  escaped  all  cold  by  being  shut  up,  and 
yet  have  had  air. 

What  I  hear  is  most  believed  is  that  Jeune,  out  of  instinctive 
reverence,  refused  to  put  in  evidence  the  consecrated  wafer,  and 
that  it  is  certain  that  neither  Lord  Penzance  nor  he  believed  that 
It  was.  But  that  It  was,  somehow.  The  Archbishop's  letter 
was  a  cold  one,  but  did  not  contain  unbelief.  I  wrote  to  thank 
the  Archbishop  for  having  recovered  It,  in  the  name  of  tens  of 
thousands. 


LETTER  FROM  DR.   PUSEY.  355 

I  hope  that  the  Bath  chair  is  owing  to  the  steepness  of  the 
hill-side,  not  to  any  want  of  strength ;  but  I  fear  that  the  power  of 
Celebrating  early  has  not  yet  returned. 

You  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  Mrs.  's  munificence  has 

obtained  a  locum  tenens  for  the  Bishop  of  Capetown's  nephew, 
Mr.  Gray,  and  that  he  is  to  be  here  for  four  months. 

The  dove-cotes  *  look  very  well.  They  are  finished,  all  but 
the  last  coat  of  paint.     We  must  pray  for  doves  to  fill  them. 

I  am  again  at  work  on  Farrar's  mischievous  book,  but  the 
tide  has  been  rolling  on  meanwhile.  M.  B.  thanks  you  and  Mrs. 
Skinner  for  your  kind  wishes  for  her  and  the  Sisters,  and  asks  me 
to  give  you  her  most  cordial  wishes  in  return. 

Ever  yours  very  affectionately, 

E.  B.  P. 

*  New  buildings  at  Ascot  for  the  Sisters. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

LAST   SUMMERS. 

i 879-1 88 i. 

' '  Yes  !  let  the  fragrant  scars  abide, 
Love-tokens  in  Thy  stead, 
Faint  shadows  of  the  spear-pierced  Side, 
And  thorn-encompassed  Head." 

The  winter  and  spring  of  1879-80  were  spent  by  Mr. 
Skinner  at  Bath,  which  suited  him  better  in  every  respect 
than  the  Riviera.  But  he  was  seldom  able  even  to  go  to 
church,  and  the  extracts  of  letters  which  follow  tell  of  no 
real  improvement.  He  occupied  himself  in  translating  the 
"  Manuale  "  of  St.  Augustine  into  English  odes,  published 
under  the  title  of  "  Ccelestia." 

Bath,  Shrove-Tuesday,  i8Sc. 

Our  weather  is  now  what  people  call  "  delicious,"  but  the 
contrast  to  what  we  have  had  is  too  great  and  too  sudden  for  me, 
and  I  drop  down  into  the  jelly-fish  stratum  of  life  without  power 
of  revival.  I  have  just  come  in  from  a  long  drive  over  the  Combe 
Down ;  it  was  refreshing ;  but  I  am  very  tired,  and  somehow  letter- 
writing  tires  me  more  than  anything  else,  though  there  is  nothing 
else  that  I  do,  to  make  up  for  deficiencies  in  that. 

I  have  just  got  the  Wilberforce  Life,  and  have  glanced  through 
it.  How  curious  that  your  Archbishop  began  his  acquaintance 
and  intimacy  with  him  by  leading  him  to  inquire  into  mystic  and 


LETTER  FROM  DR.   PUSEY.  357 

scholastic  theology ;  and  how  his  mind  seemed  to  seize  upon  the 
former  as  the  evangelizing  element  in  the  mediaeval  system  !  But, 
somehow,  all  through,  there  seems  a  poor  and  disappointing- 
standard,  'taken  for  granted  as  the  highest,  .  .  .  elevated,  by  his 
amazing  faculty,  into  ecclesiastical  statesmanship. 

Second  Sunday  in  Lent,  1S80. 
How  more  than  kindly  are  the  words  of  the  good  Archbishop 
about  my  two  literary  bairns  !  I  am  greatly  encouraged  to  go  on 
and  finish  the  "Synopsis."  I  get  on  very  slowly  with  my  preface, 
the  difficulty  being  to  omit  and  compress.  And  I  am  so  soon 
tired  out,  that  an  hour's  work  finishes  me  up. 

Wednesday  in  Easter  Week,  1880. 
This  is  really  my  Easter  Day ;  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  my 
Easter  Communion  till  to-day.  I  therefore  write  on  my  glad  day 
to  you,  to  wish  you  every  blessing  that  the  good  God  may  order 
for  you,  even  through  suffering  and  privation,  in  order  to  your 
rising,  the  more,  with  Him  Who  must  needs  suffer  before  He 
entered  into  His  glory. 

Dr.  Pusey  wrote  after  the  death  of  his  only  son  and  his 
own  severe  illness : 

Christ  Church,  Oxford,  Saturday  in  Easter  Week,  18S0. 

My  dearest  Friend, 

The  exhaustion  of  that  night  was  so  great  that,  notwith- 
standing the  great  mercy  of  God  to  me  in  it,  I  was  laid  up  for 
some  weeks,  and  although  I  thanked  God  for  having  preserved 
me  such  a  son  for  nearly  fifty  years,  I  could  not  read  the  letters 
which  were  written  in  such  kindness  to  me.  When  I  could  read 
them  I  still  could  not  write  of  them. 

God  was  indeed  very  good.  My  dear  son  was  cut  off  from  all 
human  aid.  He  was  for  those  six  hours  insensible  to  the  outer 
world.  He  could  hear  absolutely  nothing,  nor  feel  anything.  I 
did  not  dare  give  him  the  Viaticum  because  something  returned 
from  the  stomach.     I  did  not  dare  even  moisten  his  lips  with  the 


358  RETURN  TO  ASCOT. 

Blood  of  Christ.  But  God  was  with  him.  Towards  the  end,  the 
nurse  said  to  me,  "  He  must  be  going  now."  I  looked  at  his  face. 
You  remember  that  his  features  were  plain ;  but  there  was  a  calm 
heavenly  beauty  such  as  I  think  I  have  never  seen.  Others  told 
me  that  it  continued  as  long  as  it  could  be  seen.  God  must  have 
been  speaking  to  him,  and  left  that  superhuman  beauty.  Thanks 
be  to  Him. 

Since  I  have  been  able  to  use  my  brain,  Acland  advises  me  to 
take  up  what  work  I  could,  so  I  have  taken  up  my  often  inter- 
rupted pages,  "  What  is  of  faith  as  to  everlasting  punishment  ?  " 
in  the  hope  of  also  meeting  some  popular  objections. 

I  have  seen  incidentally  that  you  have  been  able  to  write 
to  the  Times,  so  I  hope  that  the  confinement  and  the  cold  have 
not  increased  your  ailments. 

You  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  has,  at 
the  instance  of  the  Mother  and  all  the  Sisters  and  Novices  of 
the  society,  consented  to  become  Yisitor.  He  wrote  a  very 
cordial  letter,  promising  to  take  an  interest  in  the  society.  .  .  . 

Let  me  hear  how  you  are. 

Your  very  affectionate 

E.  B.  P. 

Early  in  May  Mr.  Skinner  returned  to  Ascot. 

The  Hermitage,  May  18,  1SS0. 
I  have  not  been  able  to  write  to  you,  first,  on  account  of  the 
trouble  attendant  on  leaving  Bath,  and  next  on  account  of  the 
trouble  of  settling  here.  Unhappily,  I  caught  a  bad  cold  on 
Whit-Sunday,  when  I  gave  Evensong  and  an  address  after  having 
Celebrated,  in  my  own  oratory,  in  the  morning.  I  do  not  think 
that  I  have  attempted  so  much  since  I  left  Newland,  and  I  do  not 
think  I  should  have  been  any  the  worse  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
bitter  wind  and  icy  cold  of  the  chapel.  Poor  Sister  G.  was  so 
very  anxious  that  the  Sisters  and  patients  (of  whom  there  are  many) 
should  not  lose  all  spiritual  brightness  and  help  on  such  a  grand 
festa,  that  I  could  not  resist  making  an  effort.  And  I  believe 
that  I  did  right  in  trying,  and  that  "  my  soul  received  comfort," 


VISIT  TO  NEWLAND.  359 

though  my  poor  broken  body  has  come  to  a  little  extra  grief. 
The  cold  of  this  place  is  far  in  advance  of  Bath,  nevertheless  it 
is  most  sweet  and  reposeful,  and  freshening  and  invigorating,  and 
both  I  and  my  dear  wife  felt  (for,  I  think,  the  first  time)  what  a 
comfortable,  homey,  cheery,  summer  pied-a-terre  had  been,  under 
God,  provided  for  us. 

Before  Mr.  Skinner's  return  to  Ascot  this  summer,  his 
wife  wrote  :  "  He  is  so  feeble  !  I  now  have  hardly  a  ray  of 
hope  that  he  will  ever  be  able  for  any  work  relating  to  his 
holy  calling." 

Yet,  as  often  before,  his  mind  conquered  the  body,  and 
he  frequently  gave  instruction  at  the  hospital  during  the 
summer.  In  August  he  paid  a  visit  to  his  beloved  New- 
land,  staying  with  his  sister  at  Malvern  Link.  His  wife 
notes  in  her  journal : 

Aug.  12. — At  five  o'clock  went  to  Evensong  at  Newland,  and 
James  went  into  his  old  place  in  the  stalls  (Mr.  White  being 
absent),  and  read  the  Second  Lesson.  It  seemed  like  a  dream, 
and  yet  so  natural.  The  place  was  looking  its  very  loveliest,  my 
garden  blazing  with  flowers. 

"  I  felt  nothing  but  thankfulness  and  happiness,"  she 
wrote  to  a  friend  at  this  time  ;  "  all  other  feelings  were 
taken  away  from  me." 

Dr.  Pusey  was  at  times  during  this  summer  unable,  from 
increased  deafness,  to  carry  on  conversation  ;  he  writes  to 
Mr.  Skinner,  alluding  to  a  friend's  illness,  although  under 
the  same  roof : 

September  28,  18S0. 

My  dearest  Friend, 

Thank  you  most  kindly.  I  had  heard  that  your  wife 
had  said  that  she  had  nursed  the  dear  daughter,  whom  God  took, 
through  an  attack  of  gastric  fever  once,  and  I  was  thinking  that  I 


360  LETTER  FROM  DR.   PUSEY. 

mi^ht  ask  her  what  remedies  were  used.  But  I  hesitated  because 
of  all  the  sorrowful  reminiscences.  For  one  can  look  back  on  a 
whole,  not  on  details. 

The  saddest  of  all  losses  are  those  which  were  brought  on  by 
mismanagement,  as  this  of  dear  Lowder's.  It  always  comes  to 
one,  "  if  he  had  not,"  etc.  God  overrules  it,  but  it  seems  less 
His  doing  than  what  He  does  directly.  However,  one  would  not 
disturb  his  brother's  brightness.  But  his  brother  might  be  glad- 
dened with  the  thought  of  dear  J.  H.  N.,  when,  in  those  early 
days,  I  was  regretting  some  loss  of  one  who  might  have  done  so 
much  good  :  "  Perhaps  they  may  do  more  for  us  there."  Tell 
him  this  with  my  kind  regards. 

We  must  not  lose  courage  at  anything.  Only  think  of  the 
days  when  the  whole  world  groaned  at  finding  itself  Arian,  or 
Liberius  and  Hosius  apostatized,  or  when  emperors  extruded 
orthodox  Bishops,  or  a  general  Council  had  to  anathematize 
Honorius,  or  the  Robber  Council  which  began  in  all  due  form,  but 
where  a  Patriarch  of  Alexandria  countenanced  a  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople being  kicked  to  death  ;  or  that  century  when  Baronius 
says  the  only  good  of  the  Popes  was  to  continue  the  succession, 
and  our  Lord  seemed  to  be  asleep  in  the  boat,  and  they  were 
afraid  to  wake  Him  up,  lest  He  should  come  to  judge  them. 

I  suppose  that  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  kingdom  of  dark- 
ness will  grow  on  together.  Did  you  happen  to  see  in  the  last 
Church  Times  a  paper  by  a  Wesleyan,  in  which  Dr.  Rigges  was 
quoted  as  saying  that  '•'  never  in  the  history  of  the  Church  was 
there  such  a  revival  as  that  in  the  Church  of  England  in  the  last 
thirty  years  "  ? 

Poor !    One  ought  to  pray  for  him  more.     I  heard  that 

he  said,  probably  some  years  ago,  that  he  supposed  that  the 
Resurrection  would  have  to  be  considered  an  open  question. 

But  Cardinal  Newman  has  said  of  late  years  that  he  had  rather 
have  to  do  with  the  open  unbelief  of  this  century,  than  the  secret 
unbelief  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

As  for  the  Supreme  Court  in  1850,  I,  too,  was  one  who  over- 
rated the  mischief  of  its  wrong  decisions.     It  made  Baptism  an 


LETTERS  FROM  DR.  PUSEY.  36 1 

open  question  judicially,  and  the  belief  has  grown  ever  since. 
Some  one  asked  Parker  why  my  book  on  Baptism  did  not  sell 
now.  He  answered,  "Nobody  wants  it,  because  nobody  ques- 
tions the  doctrine.  Controversy  has  gone  to  the  other  sacra- 
ment." Mr.  Capes  must  exaggerate  ;  such  shamelessness  can  only 
injure  those  who  identify  themselves  with  him.  But  his  letter 
shows  that  consciences  must  be  awake,  although  his  is  asleep  ; 
else  he  would  not  have  to  give  them  a  narcotic.  I  am  only 
afraid  of  people's  tempers  and  their  using  their  own  nostrum  of 
disestablishment  and  ejection  of  Bishops  from  the  House  of  Lords, 
and  wish  there  were  more  of  the  spirit  of  the  old  Tractarian  days  : 
"  Stand  still  and  see  the  salvation  of  God."  There  is  a  great 
work  going  on  among  the  young  men  at  Oxford,  notwithstanding 
the  evil ;  but  the  darnel  shows  itself  by  its  gaudy  colours,  while 
the  corn  ripens  uninjured  by  it.     With  every  good  wish, 

Your  very  affectionate 

E.  B.  P. 

Ascot  Priory,  October,  1880. 

My  dearest  Friend, 

My  pleasant  time  is  to  be  over  on  Saturday.  My  in- 
firmities have  been  a  great  hindrance  to  our  seeing  one  another. 
I  have  given  up  hearing  long  sentences,  though  your  voice  is  so 
clear,  for  fear  of  misunderstanding  what  is  said. 

I  have  written  what  I  could  to  poor ,  for  it  is  soothing  to 

have  one's  hopes  echoed.  "  Out  of  the  deep  "  issues  in  "  O  Israel, 
trust  in  the  Lord ;  for  with  the  Lord  there  is  mercy,  and  with 
Him  is  plenteous  redemption." 

I  have  written  a  useless  letter  of  remonstrance  to ,  saying 

that  in  all  this  agitating  there  are  two  parties  whom  we  leave  out 
of  consideration,  of  very  different  importance,  but  one  of  very 
great  weight ;  with  the  other  we  have  a  very  intimate  relation — 
Almighty  God  and  ourselves. 

In  our  early  Tractarian  days  we  used  a  prayer  out  of  Daniel  ix. , 
with  other  prayers  of  humiliation  and  for  internal  unity.  J.  H.  N. 
drew  them  up  at  my  wish.  Now  we  seem  to  do  nothing  but  bark 
at  and  devour  one  another. 


362  LAST  CELEBRATION. 

But  there  is  no  use  in  complaining,  except  to  God. 
You  or  Mrs.  Skinner  will  tell  me  how  you  fare  in  this  coming 
week. 

Your  very  affectionate 

E.  B.  P. 

On  October  14,  his  wife's  birthday,  Mr.  Skinner  Cele- 
brated in  his  oratory,  with  her  and  one  other  friend.  He 
never  Celebrated  again. 

By  the  end  of  October  he  was  again  settled  in  Bath  for 
the  winter.  He  writes  at  the  opening  of  the  year  1881, 
which  was  to  be  his  last  on  earth  : 

Just  one  line,  my  dearest ,  to  convey  to  you  my  heart's 

best  wishes,  and  my  soul's  best  prayers,  for  every  blessing  in  the 
year  which  begins  to-day. 

How  little,  happily,  we  can  know  of  what  it  will  bring  forth ; 
but  how  safely  may  we  commend  it  and  ourselves  to  God  ! 

February  8,  1SS1. 
You  will  be  glad  to  hear,  at  length,  that  I  can  say  I  am  a 
little  better,  and  suffer  less,  in  that  struggling  for  breath,  amidst 
paroxysms  of  coughing,  which  has  lately  been  so  frequent.  ...  I 
am  writing  a  note  to  E.  B.  P.,  who  has  sent  me  his  letter  to 
Liddon  with  the  title  of  "  Unlaw  or  Judgments,"  etc.  A  wonderful 
effort  at  his  age,  betokening  not  only  his  unabated  skill  in  mar- 
shalling details,  with  confusion  and  yet  with  power,  but  his  bravery 
and  chivalry  in  defence  of  truth,  and  his  quiet  humour,  not  without 

sarcasm  and  malice  cache,  in  bating  an  offender  like .     Get  it 

and  enjoy  the  telling  little  bit  about  the  "  raw  theologian  from 
Belgium,"  and  the  cut  at  the  "  four  tutors."  Church's  article  in 
the  Nineteenth  Century  is  also  extremely  well  done  ;  it  is  so  quiet 
in  its  strength. 

February  28,  1SS1. 

Oh,  my  dearest ,  how  my  heart  bleeds  this  morning  for 

that  poor  sorrow-stricken  sister  at ,  and  indeed  for  all  of  you 


LETTERS  FROM  BATH.  363 

who  loved  and  treasured  that  noble  soldier  *  whom  God  has 
suddenly  summoned  to  His  courts,  where  arms  are  no  longer 
needed. 

The  only  thing  that  compensates  is — that  they  must  all  have 
been  prepared,  at  any  time,  to  hear  of  a  soldier's  death,  for  one 
so  stationed  in  the  very  forefront  of  danger  •  and  more,  prepared 
also  that  he  should  win  the  highest  of  all  a  soldier's  aims,  the  crown 
of  loyalty  to  duty. 

It  must  be  further  a  source  of  sweet  consolation  to  his  friends 
to  know  how  his  heart  and  his  head  were  alike  devoted,  from  the 
beginning  of  this  most  miserable  war,  to  the  duty  of  conducting  it 
with  as  much  humanity  and  righteousness  as  the  circumstances 
would  admit.  Oh,  what  a  gloomy  prospect  lies  before  the  country, 
and  what  stricken  hearts  and  desolate  homes  are  now  bearing 
witness  to  the  cost!  The  58th  Regiment  seems  to  .have  been 
all  but  annihilated.  I  see  no  possibility  now  of  the  Free  State 
emerging  from  the  fray,  and  what  will  become  of  the  Mission  and 
the  many  English  there,  God  alone  knows. 

I  can  write  on  no  other  subject,  my  heart  and  head  are  so  full 
of  this.     Let  us  besiege  the  Throne  of  Grace  with  prayer. 

March  15,  1881. 
I  have  been  wanting  sorely  to  write  to  you  for  many  days  past, 
and  have  not  been  able.  .  .  .  The  change  in  my  general  strength 
this  year  is  very  marked  ;  I  am  far  more  feeble  and  worn  out ; 
and  my  power  of  rallying  after  severe  paroxysms  of  cough  and 
breathlessness  is  far  less.  Fiat  Voluntas  Dei.  These  are  tokens 
of  His  love,  beacon-mg  me  on  to  the  end.  I  am  quite  unequal 
to  any  literary  work  now ;  I  fear  I  cannot,  anyhow,  get  on  with 
my  paper  f  on  J.  K.'s  book.  I  am  days  together  without  the 
power  of  even  thinking  about  it,  far  less  of  writing.  And  yet  I 
have  worked  up  so  much  of  it  that  it  would  worry  me  most  of  all 
to  give  it  up  altogether. 

*  Sir  George  Pomeroy  Colley. 

t  A  review  on  Mr.  Keble's  "Outlines  for  Meditation"  (Parker  and  Co.), 
promised  for  the  Church  Quarterly. 


364  LETTERS  FROM  BATH. 

I  return  you  all  the  Lowder  papers.  Many  of  those  letters 
bring  back  to  my  eye  his  father's  quiet,  grave,  subdued,  almost 
afflicted,  yet  bright  and  genial  face,  and  his  mother's  very  sweet 
and  gentle,  but  very  impressive  character,  as  they  both  almost 
idolized  their  son. 

I  send  you  the  letters  which  have  passed  between  E.  B.  P., 
M.  B.,  and  me,  since  dear  Roberts'  death  left  the  poor  place 
in  famine.  The  position  now  is  simply  this — that  whenever  there 
is  any  priest  forthcoming  to  occupy  the  house  as  resident  chaplain, 
I  make  way  for  him. 

What  a  new  horror  is  this  from  St.  Petersburg"!  God  help 
us !  "  The  days  are  very  evil,  the  times  are  waxing  late,"  sure 
enough.  May  He  keep  us  near  Himself  in  truth,  and  justice, 
and  mercy,  and  love,  in  all  our  thoughts  and  words  and  acts, 
that  we  may  not  fail  when  the  Judge  is  "  really  at  the  gate." 

March  23,  1 88 1. 

I  have  not  had  you  less  continually  and  warmly  in  my  heart 
and  prayers,  that  I  have  not  said  so  sooner  in  this  time  of  your 
mingled  sorrow  and  joy — sorrow  for  the  irreparable  loss  to  your 
sight,  and  joy  for  the  unspeakable  gain  to  the  soul  of  that  precious 
aunt  just  gone  home.  Yet  God  can  make  up  to  you  for  what  you 
must  miss,  in  that  ever-teaching  face  of  love  and  sweetness,  and, 
still  more,  in  that  living  example  of  high-souled  faith  and  good- 
ness ;  Pie  can  bring  all  her  lessons  of  the  past  more  vividly  "  into 
your  remembrance,"  and  can  enable  you,  with  more  zeal  and 
purpose  of  heart,  to  follow  them.  But  nothing  could  take  the 
place  to  her  of  that  perfect  rest  and  still  more  perfect  fulfilment  of 
all  her  longings  after  God,  into  which  she  has  now  passed.  So 
it  is  soon  made  clear  that  her  gain  is  ineffably  more  to  be  joyed 
over  than  your  loss  is  to  be  lamented. 

I  love  to  think  of  her  as  with  the  "  saints,"  who,  even  in  Para- 
dise, are  "  joyful  with  glory"  and  "  rejoice  in  their  beds." 

How  beautiful  is  the  symbol  of  "  bed  " — expressing  the  repose 
of  the  inmost  soul,  with  the  conscience  cleansed  and  rested, 
through  the  precious  Blood  ! 


THE  LAST  EASTER.  365 

Conceive,  therefore,  of  that  dear  tender  conscience,  ever  con- 
scious of  God's  eye,  and  ever  straining  to  please  Him,  ever  awake 
to  the  dangers  of  self-will,  and  ever  eager  to  avert  them  by  acts 
of  duty — in  obedience,  in  humility,  in  almsgiving,  in  prayer,  in 
sympathy  with  suffering,  above  all,  in  appointed  worship  and 
devotion, — conceive  of  it  now  and  for  ever  at  rest — in  peace,  on 
shore,  at  home ;  and  you  will  not  fail  to  identify  dear  Lady  Helena 
with  the  thousands  gone  before  who  are  "joyful  with  glory"  and 
"rejoice  in  their  beds." 

I  wish  I  could  write  more,  but  I  had  another  bad  night,  and 
am  not  able,  and  I  am  unwilling  to  delay  longer  saying  something. 

Easter  Thursday,  1881. 

I  am  still  sorely  crippled,  and  am,  by  the  will  of  the  Blessed 
God,  carrying  my  poor  little  cross  into  the  Easter  festival.  But 
I  have  had  comparatively  two  easier  nights ;  and  I  am  hoping 
(D.  V.)  to  throw  off  the  acute  pain  before  the  end  of  the  festival. 
Dearest  Eichbaum  comes  to  give  me  my  Easter  Communion  on 
the  eighth  day. 

All  blessing  be  on  you  to-morrow,  your  natural  as  well  as 
supernatural  birthday — for,  surely,  in  our  dearest  Lord,  you  were 
reborn  with  Him  when  He  rose  from  the  tomb,  raising,  as  He 
then  did,  our  common  humanity,  and  setting  it  for  ever  free  from 
the  bondage  of  death. 

May  6,  1881. 
I  am  as  before,  suffering  bad  nights  and  mornings  alternately 
with  the  enjoyment  of  greater  repose.  But  I  never  shall  be  any 
better ;  and  my  mind  is  quite  made  up  to  the  enjoyment  of  suffer- 
ing, or  rather  of  such  patience  as  it  shall  please  the  Blessed  God 
to  grant  me  through  grace  and  the  cross  of  His  dear  Son.  We 
are  now  beginning  to  think  of  our  departure  from  Bath ;  and  I 
am  a  little  dreading  the  colder  air  of  Ascot  in  this  very  backward 
season.  But  we  do  not  really  go  thither  till  the  week  after  next, 
and  by  that  time  summer  may  have  set  in,  at  least  in  promise.  I 
think  it  will  be  my  last  use  of  Ascot,  and  of  all  that  your  love 
provided  for  me  there. 


366  LETTERS  FROM  DR.   PUSEY. 

The  resolution  to  give  up  his  home  at  Ascot  was 
strongly  opposed  by  Dr.  Pusey. 

Christ  Church,  Oxford,  March  6,  1881. 
My  dearest  Friend, 

Nothing  seemed  to  me  less  likely  than  that  you  should 
not  occupy  the  house  which  was  built  for  you,  as  long  as  God 
should  leave  you  to  us.  M.  B.  thought  the  acceptance  of  your 
offer  to  resign  it  out  of  the  question.  She  said,  "  It  is  Mr. 
Skinner's  as  long  as  God  shall  continue  him  here."  ...  It  is  a  sad 
issue  of  the  bright  hopes  with  which  I  invited  you  to  be  chaplain 
before  that  winter  abroad,  and  must  have  been  heavy  upon  you. 
But  it  has  been  His  will. 
With  every  good  wish, 

Yours  affectionately, 

E.  B.  P. 

To  another  friend  Dr.  Pusey  wrote  in  June : 

It  is  all  very  disappointing,  sadly  disappointing  to  Mr.  Skinner, 
who  looked  forward  so  brightly  to  so  much  usefulness.     But — 

"  In  disappointment  Thou  canst  bless, 
So  love  at  heart  prevail." 

I  wish  that  Mr.  Skinner  would  not  think  of  moving.  And, 
after  all,  God  alone  knows  whether  we  shall  be  able  to  have  a 
resident  chaplain.  ...  I  cannot  bear  the  idea  of  dear  Mr.  Skinner 
moving.  I  know  what  the  moving  of  those  books  would  be ;  it 
would  be  too  great  an  effort  to  put  them  up  again  for  me.  I 
should  leave  them  in  their  boxes.  We  do  not  know  yet  that  the 
house  would  be  of  any  use  to  us. 

Sir  W.  Gull  is  taking  great  interest  in  Ascot,  so  that  is  a 
bright  streak. 

It  was  true,  as  he  felt  himself,  that  there  was  a  marked 
increase  this  year  in  the  weakness  and  suffering,  against 
which  that  brave,  hopeful  spirit  had  struggled  for  so  long. 


LAST  WORK.  367 

The  lovely  summer  of  1881  did  not,  as  formerly,  bring  him 
any  relief  or  strength  ;  only  it  enabled  him  to  sit  out, 
often  for  hours  each  day,  on  the  lawn  of  his  little  garden, 
and  to  enjoy  the  perfect  air  and  peace.  He  occupied  him- 
self continually,  chiefly  out  of  doors,  with  collecting  and 
sifting  materials  for  the  life  of  his  friend  Mr.  Lowder, 
Avritten  at  this  time  at  his  wish  and  suggestion.  This  was 
a  great  interest  and  delight  to  him  throughout  the  summer, 
and  was  indeed  his  last  zvork. 

How  vivid  is  the  remembrance  of  the  daily  life  that 
last  summer,  and  of  the  picture  which  cannot  fade  from  the 
heart — the  worn  but  beautiful  form  and  face,  looking  only 
"  like  an  excuse  for  the  soul  remaining  on  earth,"  the 
trees  and  flowers  which  were  a  pleasure  to  him — his  wife 
gardening  and  then  resting  by  him,  or  going  to  and  fro 
between  his  study  and  the  lawn,  bringing  him  papers  and 
books. 

He  could  never  Celebrate  now,  or  give  addresses  at  the 
hospital,  but  some  priest  came  every  week  to  stay  with  him 
for  a  night,  and  to  Celebrate  in  the  hospital  chapel.  And 
then  in  the  early  loveliness  and  stillness  of  those  summer 
mornings,  the  heavenly  Food  was  carried  from  the  altar  to. 
him  who  had  hoped  to  minister  there  himself. 

Ascot  Hermitage,  June  25,  188 1. 

My  dearest , 

A  thousand  thanks  for  your  tenderly  affectionate  letter 
on  my  birthday,  and  for  all  the  "  pretty  "  things  contained  in  it. 
I  wish  I  were  worthy  of  a  little  fraction  of  the  superabounding 
love  which  God  gives  me. 

I  have  now  entered  my  sixty-fourth  year  of  grace,  and  find 
myself  (in  mercy  to  my  soul)  withdrawn  from  many  a  field  of 
work  which  I  have  previously  wasted  or  misused  (God  grant  it 


368  LAST  VISIT  TO  NEWLAND. 

may  not  be  abused)  in  the  years  that  are  passed.  The  time 
which  remains  to  me  is  all  due  to  this  one  call,  of  contrition  and 
preparation  for  judgment,  which  presses  on  me  more  than  I  dare 
say  to  any  but  God.  I  hope  that  you  will  pray  for  me  without 
ceasing,  that  I  may  be  "accepted  at  that  day"  through  the 
precious  Blood,  in  which  is  all  my  hope  and  trust. 

So  many  thanks  for  all  your  painstaking  detail  about  my 
beloved  St.  Barnabas',  though  of  course  I  have  been  over  the  whole 
of  it  with  Alfred  Gurney,  and  marked,  with  mingled  feelings, 
every  token,  obliterated  and  left,  of  the  original  times. 

August  8,  1SS1. 
The  Doctor  gave  us  rather  an  alarm  this  morning,  but  he  is  all 
right  again  now.  He  has  been  overdoing  himself  lately,  with  the 
preface  to  Philip's  book  on  St.  Cyril ;  and  he  has  taken  poor 
Green's  imprisonment  most  piteously  to  heart,  and  the  failure  of 
the  appeal  to  the  House  of  Lords. 

In  September  Mr.  Skinner  went  for  a  week's  visit  with 
his  wife  to  Malvern  Link,  and  spent  much  of  his  time  at 
Newland.  It  was  his  farewell  visit  to  his  dear  old  friends  : 
every  one  thought  him  much  more  failing  than  in  the 
previous  year,  and  he  was  only  able  to  lie  in  an  easy-chair 
in  the  "  sick  chamber  "  (a  bay  looking  into  the  church)  for 
service. 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  delightful  to  me  (he  writes,  a 
few  days  after  his  return  to  Ascot)  than  my  Newland  visit  this 
year  ;  I  enjoyed  it  thoroughly,  and  bless  God  for  His  goodness  in 
suffering  me  once  more  to  make  it.  Though  fewer  and  fewer  of 
the  o\&pets  remain,  they  seem  to  have  gathered  in  the  more  love 
to  give  me,  as  their  numbers  diminish. 

We  are  already  taking  first  measures  for  our  great  move ;  and 
work  and  anxiety  connected  with  that  rather  appal  me,  but,  like 
all  things  else,  it  will  have  an  end. 

Mr.   Skinner  wrote   the  following  letters   a   few   days 


ST.  ATHANASIUS.  369 

before  leaving  Ascot,  to  two  friends  who  had  applied  to 
him  for  advice  as  to  the  best  books  to  read  up  in  order  to 
write  an  essay  on  the  subject  given  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Dublin  to  the  "  Church  History  Class  "  connected  with  a 
college  for  girls  which  he  had  founded  :  "  Estimate  the 
debt  which  the  Church  owes  to  St.  Athanasius  and  St. 
Augustine  respectively." 

Ascot  Hermitage,  October  15,  1881. 

As  to  St.  Athanasius  and  St.  Augustine,  you  ask  me  to  do  what 
would  be  hard  if  I  was  myself  and  among  my  books ;  but  being 
between  "  the  pillar  and  post "  of  a  forlorn  house  without  order 
or  anything  but  confusion,  and  without  one  book  to  refer  to,  you 
ask  me  to  do  an  impossibility. 

Meantime,  and  until  the  Archbishop  goes  to  Dublin  for  what 
he  wants,  I  advise  his  daughters  to  talk  to  him  a  great  deal  about 
the  writings  which  distinguish  the  two  great  doctors,  to  pick  his 
brains,  and  to  extort,  from  his  reading  of  the  original  sources  (the 
only  safe  authority  for  her  essay),  the  estimate  respectively  of 
what  the  Church  owes  to  each,  considering  the  time  and  the 
circumstances  at  and  under  which  God  called  each  to  labour. 

E.g.  I.  How  He  called  up  St.  Athanasius  at  a  time,  from 
Constantine  to  Valens,  when  the  Church  was  exposed  to  the  two 
formidable  fires  of  secular  favour  and  spiritual  deceit,  to  deliver 
the  truth,  and  to  witness  for  it  by  his  life  and  death,  upon  the 
foundations  of  Christianity — the  mystery  of  the  incarnation  of 
God  and  the  doctrine  of  the  ever-glorious  Trinity. 

How  God  gave  him  the  courage  of  his  convictions  (Athan., 
"  Contra  Mundum"),  as  shown  in  his  apologies — to  Constantine. 
and  "  De  Fuga  sua." 

How,  also,  the  Church  learnt  from  him  that  depth  of  inner 
life  which  orthodox  Christianity  presupposes,  as  the  effect  in  all 
who  really  believe  the  truth ;  and  which  cannot  but  manifest  itself 
in  the  mortified  lives  of  those  whom  God  calls  to  witness.  See  his 
view  of  the  solitary's  dedicated  life,  and  his  "  Life  of  St.  Anthony." 

2  B 


370  ST,  AUGUSTINE. 

Read  the  Funeral  Oration  of  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen  on  St. 
Athanasius,  and  what  St.  Jerome  says  of  him  in  his  "  Scriptores 
Ecclesiastici." 

II.  Then  not  to  compare  the  two  together  (which  were  not 
wise),  but  to  speak  of  St.  Athanasius  as  the  master  and  pioneer 
and  forerunner  in  the  glorious  arena  of  conflict  for  the  truth,  or 
of  St.  Augustine,  nearly  a  century  later,  as  the  disciple,  outrunning 
the  elder  champion,  not  in  zeal,  but  in  breadth  of  operation  and 
in  wealth  of  weapons. 

Consider  his  marvellous  accomplishments  and  many-sidedness 
— his  culture  in  grammar  and  scholarship,  in  dialectics  and 
rhetoric  and  music,  in  all  of  which  he  not  only  knew  but  taught. 

How  he  formulated  Christian  morality  into  almost  a  science  : 
gave  laws  to  the  religious  life,  and  exhibited  the  first  example  of  a 
community  doing  active  work  for  God. 

How  he  shone  before  the  Church  as  an  interpreter  of  Holy 
Scripture,  and  laboured,  never  with  more  delight  to  himself,  or 
blessing  to  the  faithful,  in  exegesis  of  the  Divine  Word,  the  Old 
Testament  and  the  New. 

Finally,  what  a  treasury  of  dogma  God  gave  him  to  build,  to 
be  a  bulwark  and  a  resource  through  all  time,  for  the  safe  guidance 
of  souls  amid  the  shifting  sands  of  human  opinion. 

Negatively,  against  Jews  and  Pagans,  Stoics  and  Epicureans, 
and  Manicheans,  against  Priscillianists,  Origenists,  Arians,  Sabel- 
lians,  Pelagians,  Donatists,  etc.,  etc.  Positively,  upon  grace,  and 
predestination,  and  election,  and  all  the  sacraments  of  the  Church. 

Dear , 

I  wrote  some  helpless  words  to  M .     Since  writing  I 

have  got  my  October  number  of  the  Cliurch  Quarterly.  There  is 
a  grand  passage  upon  St.  Athanasius  (in  which  I  cannot  mistake 
the  master  hand  of  Dean  Church).  It  is  on  pp.  224  to  227,  and 
I  greatly  commend  it  to  you.  Your  point  of  view  must,  however, 
be  historical,  not  theological ;  it  occurs  to  me,  as,  possibly,  the 
most  profitable  reading  for  you,  to  gather  up  the  estimate  of  the 
two  great  doctors  taken  respectively  by  such  different  minds  as 


LETTER  FROM  DR.  PUSEY.  37 1 

Fleuri,  Mosheim,  Giesler,  Neander,  Doellinger,  in  their  histories, 
and  to  strike  your  own  balance.  It  will  be  profitable  for  you  to 
see  Dr.  Bright's  two  recent  volumes  of  St.  Athanasius. 

I  asked  my  great  neighbour  to  tell  me  what  he  advises  you  to 
read,  but  he  has  not  yet  replied.  When  he  does,  I  will  send  the 
result  to  you. 

Hermitage,  October  16,  1881. 

Dear  - — , 

The  dear  Doctor  wrote  the  enclosed  yesterday,  after  all ; 
you  will  perhaps  let  me  have  the  letter  again,  as  everything  is  in- 
teresting which  he  writes  now  in  the  end  of  his  days,  still  so  full 
of  keen  mental  strength. 

It  occurs  to  me  to  say  that  no  "  estimate  "  of  St.  Augustine's 
work  for  the  Church  of  God  can  afford  to  disregard  his  remarkable 
power  as  a  philosophic  writer  taking  Christianity  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  intellectualist,  and  vindicating  for  it  the  highest  claim 
to  the  dignity  of  the  perfect  philosophy. 

There  is  a  beautiful  chapter,  drawing  this  out,  in  the  "  Con- 
naissance  de  Dieu  "  of  Pere  Gratry — I  think  the  fourth  chapter, 
entitled  "  La  Theodicee  de  St.  Augustin." 

Ever  yours  most  truly, 
J.  Skinner. 

I  did  not  tell  him  XhdXyou  are  the  " young  lady"  so  inquiring, 
lest  he  should  say,  as  well  he  might,  "  Let  her  take  her  pitcher  to 
the  well  that  is  overflowing  at  her  side,  and  it  will  be  filled." 

From  Dr.  Pusey. 

October  15,  1SS1. 
My  dearest  Friend, 

The  lady  would  find  a  good  deal,  I  think,  in  Bright's 

Church    History,    up    and   down.      Especially    she    would   find 

facts ;  which  are,  of  all  things,  most  valuable.     I  will  send  you, 

please  God,  a  notice  which  I  have  written,  at  Dr.  Bright's  request, 

to  a  new  volume  of  St.  Athanasius's  later  treatises.     His  notes  are 

all   condensed  information.      J.   H.  N.'s  notes  of  St.  Athanasius 

(of  whom  three  volumes  were  translated  in  the  "  Library  of  the 

Fathers  ")  are  a  mine  of  wealth  condensed. 


372  LETTER   ON  ST.   AUGUSTINE. 

The  answer  which  the  young  lady  has  to  work  out  is  that 
St.  Athanasius  was  the  defender  of  the  faith  against  the  various 
shapes  of  the  Arian  and  semi-Arian  heresies  which  tried  to  replace 
the  Creed  at  Nica^a ;  and  St.  Augustine  of  the  doctrines  of  grace 
against  the  Pelagian  and  semi-Pelagian  heresies. 

If  she  has  this  on  her  mind,  she  will  be  able,  I  think,  easily 
to  fill  out  what  she  wants  by  the  aid  of  Dr.  Bright's  "  History  of 
the  Church/" 

13,  The  Paragon,  Bath,  October  30,  1SS1. 

Dear , 

It  has  occurred  to  me,  since  I  wrote  to  you,  that  no 
estimate  of  St.  Augustine's  work  for  the  Church  would  be  com- 
plete which  left  out  the  part  he  took  in  sanctifying  the  prin- 
ciples of  justice  and  equity  (jusiitia  et  jus),  and  presenting  the 
Church  of  Christ  as  the  true  tribunal  for  the  settlement  of  all 
strife. 

Later  down  in  Church  history,  you  see  the  high  offices  of 
state  and  of  justice  held  by  dignified  ecclesiastics ;  but  it  was 
then — too  often,  alas  ! — the  Churchman  sunk  in  the  lawyer  or  the 
statesman.  But  what  St.  Augustine  typifies  is  the  Bishop  and 
shepherd  of  souls,  gathering  up  into  his  own  high  spiritual  dignity 
the  office  of  judge  and  peacemaker,  and  absorbing  the  last  in  the 
first ;  while  he  is,  in  the  process,  laying  the  foundations  of  law 
deep  down  upon  Christian  principles. 

St.  Ambrose,  his  great  master,  led  the  way.  He  (St.  Ambrose) 
tells  us,  in  his  commentary  on  the  hundred  and  eighteenth  and 
hundred  and  nineteenth  psalms,  that  the  Church  should  suffer  no 
departure  from  the  strict  principle  of  "  justice  "  in  dealing  with 
discipline,  lest  excommunicated  persons  should  too  easily  extort 
restoration  from  the  laxity  of  spiritual  judges ;  he  dreaded  the 
contagion  of  sin,  when  once  men  saw  the  road  back  again  to 
reputation  made  easy. 

St.  Augustine  seems  to  have  worked  on  his  master's  lines,  and 
it  is  certain  that  the  impression  which  his  judicial  labours  made 
upon  his  age  was  very  marked ;  he  makes  us  greatly  regret,  now,. 


CHARACTER  OF  ST.  AUGUSTINE.  S73 

how  utterly  the  Church  has  lost  this  essential  part  of  her  wealth 
of  blessing  for  "  society." 

Posidonius,  in  his  life  of  St.  Augustine  (ch.  xix.),  details  how 
he  (St.  Augustine)  would  often  spend  whole  days,  fasting  from 
dawn  to  "  the  hour  of  refection,"  in  hearing  and  settling  causes 
{cansas  forenses) ;  and  how,  in  the  short  intervals  between  the 
evidence  of  one  witness  and  another,  he  would  make  appeals  to 
the  litigants,  to  compare  their  progress,  or  their  fallings  off,  in  the 
Christian  life  ;  reproving  sinners  publicly ',  yet  with  such  care  and 
wisdom  that  none  were  offended.  He  used  to  call  this  sort  of 
labour  "  a  parergon,"  or  occupation  by  the  way.  "  How  can  a 
man  preach  or  meditate  on  the  sacred  writings  in  a  very  whirlpool 
of  business?"  he  would  ask.  "Easily:  by  always  treating  the 
occasion  and  the  clients  with  some  word  on  holy  things."  Thus, 
he  would  suggest  to  the  traders  and  merchants  who  came  for  his 
decisions,  "  Thou  foolish  one,  this  night  thy  soul,  etc.,  and  then, 
whose  shall  thy  riches  be  ?  " 

All  sorts  of  every  rank  resorted  to  him,  to  resolve  questions 
of  law  in  money,  lands,  flocks,  etc.,  etc. 

In  his  book,  "  De  Opere  Monachorum,"  he  avows  that,  person- 
ally, he  would  much  rather  be  occupied  in  the  cloister,  without  dis- 
traction, in  alternate  prayer,  study,  and  manual  labour,  than  in  the 
perplexing  office  of  interfering  between  litigants  and  their  anxious 
claims ;  but  he  insists  that  this  was  an  apostolic  duty  prescribed  by 
St.  Paul  (i  Cor.  vi.  i,  etc.)  to  all  resident  Bishops,  and  especially 
to  himself  (as  he  modestly  thought),  one  of  the  "  least  esteemed  " 
in  the  Church  (" contemptibiles,  qualis  ego  sum").  He  dares  not 
shrink  from  it.  He  adds  that  the  patient  discharge  of  it  brought 
abundant  consolations ;  he  was  the  servant  of  the  Church,  and 
especially  of  those  members  who  are  the  weakest. 

Commenting  on  the  twenty-fifth  and  twenty-sixth  psalms,  he 
describes,  in  detail,  the  sort  of  difficulties  attending  judgments 
which  the  Church  had  to  solve :  how,  if  the  decision  was  in  favour 
of  the  rich,  a  charge  was  made  of  fear  lest  greatness  should  be 
offended ;  if  in  favour  of  the  poor,  then  came  a  charge  of  oppres- 
sion of  the  rich,  in  order  to  vulgar  popularity,  etc.     So  the  secular 


374  LETTER  FROM  DR.   PUSEY. 

authorities  were  glad  to  be  relieved,  and  not  only  left  the  Church 
to  settle  all  disputes,  but  declined  to  hear  appeals  against  her  to 
themselves. 

In  a  word,  we  seem  to  see  in  St.  Augustine  the  typical  Bishop? 
ruling  his  flock,  in  externals  and  internals  alike,  upon  the  principle 
of  the  Church's  "  motherhood"  in  all  things,  to  all  her  children. 
You  have  the  type  of  the  episcopal  "  court  of  audience  " — the 
shadow,  at  least,  of  which  remained  in  our  own  episcopal  courts 
of  first  instance — until  (i)  the  Pope,  and  (2)  the  King,  took  all 
jurisdiction,  virtually,  into  his  own  hands.  Now,  here  in  England, 
the  Church  has  no  authority  whatsoever  as  a judge,  but  has  yielded 
all  to  the  Crown,  or  rather  to  the  Parliament,  which  is  not 
believing. 

In  new  countries  the  Church  might  reassert  her  place  as  the 
appeaser  and  adjuster  of  all  disputes ;  you  might  persuade  your 
African  Bishop  to  walk  in  the  footsteps  of  the  great  doctor  and 
saint  of  Hippo,  and  to  reinstate  the  "court  of  audience"  at 
Bloemfontein.  .  .  . 

We  unite  in  most  respectful  regards  to  the  Archbishop  and 

Mrs.  T ,  and  in  love  to  F and  yourself,  while  I  ever  am, 

dear , 

Most  truly  yours, 

Ja.  Skinner. 

Mr.  Skinner  gave  up  his  home  at  Ascot  on  October  18. 
The  Sunday  before,  he  gave  a  parting  address  to  the  Sisters 
in  the  chapel,  his  last  ministry  of  any  kind,  and  bade 
them  farewell. 

From  Dr.  Pusey. 

Ascot  Priory,  October  13,  1S81. 

My  dearest  Friend, 

It  is  very,  very  sad,  as  all  partings  are.  I  had  so  hoped 
that  this  would  have  been  your  home,  until  God  should  call  you 
to  your  everlasting  home.  I  had  such  bright  dreams  of  your 
future  usefulness  here  when told  me  of  your  thinking  of 


DEPARTURE  FROM  ASCOT.  375 

work  in  a  convalescent  hospital,  and  I  said  of  your  coming  here, 
"  It  is  too  good  to  be  true."  It  is  very,  very  sad,  and  although 
my  loss  of  hearing  cuts  me  off  from  much  intercourse  with  those 
whom  I  love,  yet  it  is  pleasant  to  be  under  the  same  roof  with  one 
who  loves  one  and  whom  one  loves.  But  God's  will  is  clearest 
there  where  it  "triumphs  at  our  cost,"  and  His  will  has  acted 
by  conforming  yours  to  it. 

God  knows  whether  I  shall  come  here  another  year,  'i.e. 
whether  I  shall  see  another  year.  The  two  houses  will  be 
different,  in  that  there  will  not  be  one  whom  I  love,  as  for  these 
many  years  I  have  loved  you,  next  door ;  and  the  likelihood  of 
your  coming  to  Oxford  must  be  very  small.  So  it  will  be  a  losing 
out  of  sight. 

I  have  fixed  Monday  week  for  beginning  my  lectures,  please 
God,  so  I  expect  to  stay  here  till  Saturday  week. 

God  be  with  you  evermore. 

Your  very  affectionate 

E.  B.  P. 

"We  went  to  Bath  on  October  18,"  Mrs.  Skinner  writes, 
li  and  got  into  our  house  on  November  22.  We  were  in 
the  house  together  just  five  weeks." 


CHAPTER   XX. 

REST. 

1881. 

' '  The  morning  shall  awaken, 
The  shadows  shall  decay, 
And  each  true-hearted  servant 
Shall  shine  as  doth  the  day." 

THE  fatigue  of  moving,  and  of  settling  into  his  house  at 
Bath,  tried  Mr.  Skinner  severely,  yet  neither  he  nor  those 
around  him  had  any  thought  that  the  end  was  very  near. 
He  writes  early  in  November  : 

Bath,  Twenty-second  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1881. 

I  am  worse  than  a  wreck ;  whether  I  shall  ever  be  able  to  look 
up  again  I  know  not.  Meantime,  all  my  copy  for  the  "Synopsis"  is 
printed,  and  they  are  waiting  for  more,  and  my  Liddell  paper,  due 

next  week,  not  so  much  as  thought  of.     Tell  your  cousin  E 

that,  under  such  circumstances,  I  cannot  prepare  an  "alternative 
subject "  for  her  class,  nor,  indeed,  should  I  think  it  well,  if  I 
were  ever  so  free,  to  do  it ;  because  the  class  should  never  be 
allowed  to  shirk  anything,  however  difficult,  but,  in  all  things,  at 
all  times  to  do  its  best.  They  are  the  difficult  subjects  which  test 
the  diligent. 

God  bless  you  both. 

Bath,  December  3,  1881. 
At  last  I  am  wielding  this  wonderful  copying  pencil  on  your 
behalf,  being  thoroughly  ashamed  to  put  off  any  more,  though  I 


HOME  AT  BATH.  377 

am  less  and  less  disposed  towards  the  manual  operation  of  a  letter 
•every  day,  and  less  and  less  equal  to  the  effort  of  thinking  of  any- 
thing, and  of  writing  what  I  think. 

I  have  not  had  such  a  long  and  serious  attack  as  this  for 
years ;  and  it  leaves  me,  if  indeed  it  ever  means  to  leave  me  at 
all,  reduced  in  every  direction  in  all  the  little  power  I  have  had 
these  last  half-dozen  years. 

However,  I  am  not  going  to  waste  my  little  strength  and  paper 
upon  such  an  unworthy  subject,  so  I  will  just  dismiss  it  by  saying 
that  I  say  a  "  Gloria  "  for  every  shade  of  relief  from  distress,  as  it 
-comes,  reckoning  on  nothing  beyond  the  hour,  and  trying  to  be 
patient  and  ready  for  any  future  which  it  may  please  the  blessed 
God  to  send. 

We  are  just  beginning  to  feel  "homey"  and  comfortable  in  our 
house.  .  .  .  Already  we  both  feel  that  since  we  left  Newland  we 
have  had  no  such  sense  of  "  home,"  and  no  such  accumulation  of 
opportunities,  spiritual  and  temporal,  to  make  it.  Here  my  dear 
wife  has  continual  services  within  a  few  minutes  of  her  door,  and 
already  a  district  of  poor  people  which  she  has  begun  to  visit. 
What  a  difference  in  her  life  this  will  make  you  can  imagine,  and 
what  a  happiness  it  is  to  me  to  see  her  so  happy ;  indeed,  her  one 
and  only  drawback  now  is  my  wretched  health,  with  its  anxieties, 
which  can  never,  I  fear,  be  better. 

II,  The  Paragon,  Bath,  December  9,  1881. 

I  hasten  to  send  back  what  you  ask  for.  Forgive  my  remiss- 
ness, but  I  am  no  longer  able  to  do,  or  think  of,  anything  as  I 
was  wont.  I  cannot  get  my  hand  to  write  a  word  yet  about 
Mr.  Liddell,  and  my  engagement  has  been  already  put  off  twice, 
and  must  now,  at  once,  be  fulfilled,  cofite  qui  coute. 

The  book  has  just  come  in!  How  perfect  the  "get  up"  is, 
with  the  edelweiss  in  the  corner,  I  need  not  say. 

Forgive  my  writing  more,  for  I  am  very  much  done  to-day, 
and  the  fog  here  is  thick,  and  I  cannot  breathe  freely. 

He  forced  himself  to  the  effort  of  writing;  a  "  Letter  "  for 


37§  PRAYERS  OF  DREXELIUS. 

the  parishioners  of  St.  Paul's,  Knightbridge,  on  the  resigna- 
tion of  his  old  and  dear  friend,  the  Rev.  and  Hon.  Robert 
Liddell.  There  is  no  token  in  it  of  failing  power,  but 
it  was  only  written  by  a  dying  effort ;  all  through  De- 
cember his  feebleness  and  difficulty  of  breathing  increased, 
and  the  least  exertion  seemed  to  be  too  much  for  him. 

The  following  prayers  were  found  after  his  death 
amongst  his  papers : — 

Prayers  against  Sudden  Death. 
Translated  from  the  "Prodromus  Eternitatis"  of  Drexelius. 

I. 

O  most  merciful  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  Thy  tears  and  agony 
and  sweat  of  blood,  by  Thy  precious  life-giving  death,  from  sudden 
and  unprepared  death,  deliver  me.     Amen. 

II. 

O  most  gracious  Lord  Jesu,  by  Thy  most  bitter  and  shameful 
scourging  and  cruel  crown  of  thorns,  by  Thy  most  tender  Passion 
and  outpouring  of  Thy  boundless  love,  I  most  humbly  beseech 
Thee,  suffer  me  not,  without  the  last  sacraments,  suddenly  to  pass 
away.     Amen. 

in. 

O  my  most  tenderly  loving  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  my  Saviour  and 
my  God,  by  all  Thy  sorrows  and  Thy  pains,  by  Thy  most  precious 
blood  and  ever  holy  wounds,  by  Thy  last  cry  upon  the  cross, 
"  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me  ?  "  by  Thy  most 
strong  appeal  to  the  eternal  Father,  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I 
commend  My  spirit,"  I  beseech  Thee,  take  me  not  from  hence 
suddenly  and  unawares. 

Thy  hands  have  made  me  and  fashioned  me,  cast  me  not  out 
suddenly.  Give  me,  I  beseech  Thee,  space  for  repentance,  and  a 
happy  departure  in  the  full  possession  of  Thy  grace,  that  with  all 
my  being  I  may  bless  and  praise  Thee,  through  all  eternity.     Amen. 

All  together  daily,  or  one  at  a  time,  as  ejaculations.     Never- 


LAST  LETTER.  7)79 

theless  say,  "  Fiat  voluntas  Tua  in  omnibus,  O  Deus  ! "  (see  Wisdom 
iv.  7),  and  "  In  te,  Domine,  speravi,  non  confundar  in  yEternum  " 
(Ps.  xxxi.  1). 

But  it  pleased  God  that,  like  many  of  His  servants  who 
had  been  most  constant  in  seeking  Him  at  the  altar,  he 
should  pass  from  earth  without  the  Viaticum. 

On  Thursday,  December  22,  he  went  out  as  usual  for 
an  hour  in  a  chair ;  it  was  a  cold  raw  day,  but  he  pined 
for  air,  and  said  it  would  refresh  him.  When  he  came  in 
he  seemed  very  ill,  could  eat  no  dinner,  and  got  upstairs 
with  much  difficulty.  That  evening,  at  family  prayers,  he 
remained  lying  back  in  his  chair  instead  of  standing  and 
kneeling,  which  he  had  never  done  before,  while  his  wife 
read.  Through  the  night  he  could  not  sleep,  even  for  a 
moment ;  but  when  his  doctor,  who  had  not  seen  him  for 
some  weeks,  came  early  on  Friday  morning,  he  did  not 
seem  to  think  him  worse  than  usual,  and  said  that  one 
lung  was  doing  its  duty  well.  His  wife  was  comforted,  and 
read  the  morning  service  as  usual  to  her  beloved  charge,  and 
then  he  lay  reading  and  meditating  for  more  than  an  hour. 

He  wrote  one  last  pencil  note  to  a  friend  : 

December  23. 

Just  one  line  of  Christmas  blessing  to  you   and  yours,  my 

dearest ,  from  my  bed  of  distress,  where  I  am  now  confined, 

and  have  to  gasp  for  breath  all  day  and  night,  without  rest  or  sleep 
or  any  sense  of  relief  for  ten  minutes.  Pray  for  me,  that  my 
patience  may  endure  to  the  end,  and  that  the  blessed  Jesus  may 
sanctify  my  suffering  to  the  honour  of  His  name  and  my  soul's 
good. 

Will  you  thank  the  Archbishop  for  me,  for  sending  me  his 
very  interesting  (especially  latter  part)  Charge  ? 

I  only  wish  he  could  have  added  some  co7istrnctive  little  bit  or 


3 SO  LAST  CHRISTMAS. 

bits,  to  help  those  poor  souls  who  are  drifting  away  into  the  blank 
of  doubt  and  misbelief. 

But  I  can  no  more.     God  bless  and  keep  you  ever,  prays 

Your  most  affectionate 
J.S. 

His  sufferings  from  racking  cough  and  breathlessness 
were  terrible,  and  the  weather  was  the  worst  that  could 
be,  a  dense  fog,  increasing  the  difficulty  of  breathing.  Late 
in  the  afternoon  he  got  up  and  lay  on  the  sofa,  partly 
dressed  ;  there  was  another  bad  night,  but  he  slept  a  little. 
The  proofs  of  his  "  Letter "  came  on  Saturday,  and  he 
spent  some  time  in  revising  them,  but  seemed  very  weary, 
and  frequently  laid  them  aside. 

This  was  Christmas  Eve,  and  through  the  wakeful  suffer- 
ing night  he  asked  his  wife  to  say  the  Adeste  Fideles,  and 
towards  morning  slept  quietly,  but  woke  in  a  startled,  rest- 
less condition.  After  breakfast  he  revived,  and  became  quite 
cheerful  over  the  quantity  of  Christmas  greetings  brought 
by  the  post.  He  spent  a  long  time  in  prayer  and  medita- 
tion, and  then  finished  revising  his  proof,  and  gave  it  to  his 
wife  for  the  post.  Mr.  Dunn,  the  Incumbent  of  St.  John 
Baptist's  Church,  called  in  the  afternoon  and  arranged  to 
come  the  following  Friday  to  give  him  his  Christmas  Com- 
munion. He  got  up  in  the  evening,  and  lay  in  his  easy- 
chair,  which  he  preferred  to  the  sofa.  "  I  went  down  to 
the  drawing-room  after  dinner,"  his  wife  wrote,  "  and  leaving 
the  doors  open  I  played  Adeste  Fideles  as  loud  as  I  could, 
that  a  little  bit  of  Christmas  might  reach  him." 

And  so  the  time  went  by  ;  hard  nights  of  weary  struggle 
and  suffering,  in  the  day  a  little  less  distress,  when  he  lay 
in  his  chair  with    his    books,   seeming    to    prefer  reading 


LETTER  FROM  DR.   PUSEY.  38 1 

himself  to  being  read  to  :  at  night  his  wife  read  psalms  and 
hymns  to  him  as  he  could  bear  them.  In  the  afternoon 
of  Wednesday,  he  asked  for  a  pencil  and  wrote  the  following 
note,  begging  that  it  might  be  copied  and  sent  to  each  one 
of  a  list  of  priests,  which  he  also  wrote  : — 

The  Rev.  James  Skinner,  to  whom  God  is  apparently  bringing 
the  end  of  long-continued  sickness  through  some  painful  suffering, 
desires  to  have  his  name  placed  on  the  daily  list  of  persons  prayed 
for  at  the  Celebration  in  your  church,  and  begs  you  of  your 
charity  to  add  your  own  prayers. 

One  answer  to  this  note  must  be  given  : 

Christ  Church,  Oxford,  December  29,  1881. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Skinner, 

I  have,  as  your  dear  husband  wished,  asked  three  of  the 
clergy  here  to  remember  him  at  the  altar,  and  will,  of  course, 
remember  him  there  and  continually.  I  hope  that,  please  God, 
he  may  yet  do  good  service  to  Him  on  earth,  and  that  what  your 
natural  anxiety  fears  may  not  be  yet.  But  he  has  fought  a  good 
fight,  and  you  will  thank  and  bless  God  that,  although  in  frail 
health  during  these  last  years,  He  has  preserved  him  hitherto  to 
you  and  to  the  Church.     God  bless  you  and  him. 

Yours  affectionately, 

E.  B.  Pusey. 
Give  your  dear  husband  my  tender  love. 

That  night,  Wednesday,  the  28th,  after  about  ten  o'clock, 
his  cough  and  some  other  bad  symptoms  ceased  entirely. 
His  wife  hoped  this  was  a  good  sign,  and  that  he  would  have 
a  quiet  night.  Alas  !  it  was  but  the  sign  that  the  end  was 
close  at  hand,  and  that  the  utterly  exhausted  frame  had  no 
longer  any  power  to  struggle  ;  from  this  moment  he  was 
actually  dying,  and  nothing  remained  but  for  the  bright 
and  purified  spirit  to  break  through  the  frail,  worn  earthly 


382  LAST  HOURS. 

tabernacle,  and  find  the  longed-for  rest.  There  was  one 
more  night  of  most  distressing  restlessness,  and  no  sleep 
came :  he  asked  his  wife  to  read  the  seventy-seventh  psalm, 
and  when  she  had  done  so,  he  said,  "  Oh,  how  beautiful  that 
is  !  read  it  again." 

"  I  call  to  remembrance  my  song."  Those  who  in  later 
years  at  Newland  heard  him  sing  alone  the  first  few  words 
of  the  Venite  or  Magnificat,  before  the  choir  joined  in, 
can  never  forget  the  beauty  of  that  song,  or  the  reverent 
worship  which  it  expressed.  All  through  the  night  psalms 
and  hymns  were  read  to  him,  as  he  could  bear  it — he 
could  not  sing  them  yet. 

When  the  doctor  came  on  Thursday  morning  he  saw 
that  the  end  was  approaching,  but  did  not  tell  this  to  Mrs. 
Skinner.  She  sent  a  friend  to  be  with  her  husband  for  a 
little,  and  to  her  he  reproached  himself  for  procrastination, 
saying  that  he  had  undertaken  too  much.  "  But  what  is 
time  to  me  now"  he  added,  "except  to  know  more  of 
the  love  and  consolation  and  liberality  and  tenderness 
of  God  ? "  Then  he  murmured,  "  Pax.  Rest.  O  God, 
have  mercy !  "  and  twice  made  the  Sign  of  the  Cross.  The 
dew  of  death  was  on  his  forehead,  yet  he  never  thought 
he  was  dying ;  roused  himself  by  one  last  effort,  and  was 
settled  in  his  chair  by  midday.  Mr.  Dunn  called  and  had 
prayers  with  him  ;  he  said  that  he  knew  he  could  not  bear 
more  than  the  shortest  service  at  his  Communion  on  the 
morrow,  and  gave  minute  directions  as  to  what  he  wished 
to  be  done,  speaking  in  a  strong,  earnest  voice.  Now  also 
he  expressed  great  regret  at  having  left  so  many  things 
unfinished,  especially  the  "  Synopsis."  "  That  will  never 
come  out  now,"  he  said,  and  added,  "  Ah,  the  world  will  do 


LAST  HOURS.  383 

very  well  without  it ;  we  think  things  so  important  and  so 
necessary,  but  God  knows  what  is  most  for  His  honour 
and  glory."  * 

When  they  were  alone  together,  his  wife  said  to  him, 

"  Dr.  H ,  I  fear,  thinks  you  much  weaker  to-day  ;  "  for 

she  had  perceived  this,  and  thought  he  ought  to  know  it. 
He  turned  his  head  quickly,  looked  at  her  earnestly,  and 
said  in  a  rather  surprised  tone,  "  Does  he  ?  "  She  could  not 
speak  ;  he  seemed  to  see  in  her  face  all  that  she  would  say, 
and  after  a  little  pause  looked  upwards,  and  said  slowly, 
"  This  life  has  no  attraction  for  me  beyond  yourself ;  you 
are  my  only  tie.  My  hope  and  firm  trust  is  in  my  blessed, 
dearest  Lord,  Who  loves  me.  Vile  and  unworthy  as  I  am, 
I  knozv  how  greatly  He  loves  me,  and  in  that  love  I  place 
all  my  hope  and  confidence."  He  spoke  in  a  feeble  voice, 
and  as  if  it  were  a  difficulty  to  him  to  articulate,  but  his 
face  shone  with  an  expression  of  rapture. 

His  wife  tried  to  say  a  few  words  of  love,  and  of  their 
blessed  life  together,  but  she  could  hardly  speak.  He 
turned  again,  looking  earnestly  and  tenderly  at  her,  and 
said,  "  Do  not  let  us  upset  each  other  ;  we  must  not  upset 
each  other." 

He  seemed  faint  and  tired,  but  said  that  when  he  was 
rested  she  was  to  bring  paper  and  pencil,  and  he  would 
dictate  a  few  last  wishes.  She  left  him  for  luncheon,  little 
dreaming  how  near  was  the  end  ;  when  she  returned  he 
bade  her  bring  a  sheet  of  paper  and  write  a  letter  for  him  ; 
then  he  dictated  a  note,  asking  about  an  address,  and 
taking  the  pen  from  her  hand  signed  it  himself. 

*  It  was  published  in  less  than  nine  months.  The  fulfilment  of  his  wishes, 
the  last  sacrifice  required  from  him  on  earth,  was  given  back  to  him,  and  in 
the  way  he  would  most  have  desired. 


384  REST. 

Then  he  seemed  quite  exhausted,  closed  his  eyes,  and 
lay  still.  Once  again  he  looked  at  his  wife,  asked  for  a 
cordial,  drank  a  little,  and  seemed  revived,  but  disposed  to 
sleep.  She  sat  watching  him  as  he  slept  quietly,  his 
breathing  so  much  less  laboured  than  it  had  been  that  she 
hoped  he  would  wake  up  refreshed,  and,  about  4  p.m., 
carried  a  book  to  the  window,  as  the  light  was  waning. 
She  heard  suddenly  a  slight,  gentle  sound,  and  was  in  an 
instant  by  his  side.  He  lay  as  in  the  same  calm  sleep  of 
the  last  hour  ;  there  was  no  trace  of  suffering,  only  the 
drops,  stood  thick  on  his  brow.  She  did  not  know,  until 
her  faithful  servant  told  her,  that  the  last  bonds  which  held 
the  spirit  captive  had  been  gently  broken,  and  that  the  land 
of  everlasting  rest  was  won. 

"  When  I  wake  up  I  am  present  with  Thee." 

I  am  constantly  by  the  side  of  that  beloved  and  most  lovely 
form  (she  wrote  to  a  friend  on  January  3).  It  is  not  the  least 
like  a  corpse.  I  have  seen  so  many,  but  none  like  this.  His 
face  has  lost  all  the  look  of  weary  pain  it  wore  of  late,  his  dear 
hands  are  crossed  over  his  breast,  and  he  does  not  now  look  more 
than  his  real  age,  sixty- three.  He  lies  on  a  bed  of  Eucharis  lilies 
and  delicate  ferns,  and  other  lovely  things  ;  so  many  flowers  have 
been  sent  that  I  hardly  know  what  to  do  with  them.  O,  when  I 
come  back  and  find  all  gone,  what  shall  I  do  ?  But  this  I  know, 
that  my  God,  and  his  God,  will  never,  never  forsake  me. 

Once  more  she  went  to  Newland  with  all  that  was 
mortal  of  him  who  had  made  the  joy  of  that  blessed  home 
in  past  sunshine  hours,  and  who  had  upheld  her  in  their 
deep  sorrow.  His  body  was  received  by  the  clergy  at 
Newland,  and  laid  before  the  altar  where  he  had  begun  the 
daily  Eucharist,  and   Evensong  was  said.     Far  up  on  the 


BURIAL.  385 

Malvern  Hills  the  lights  in  Newland  Church  could  be  seen 
burning  all  night  where  watchers  knelt  in  constant  prayer  ; 
some  of  the  hours  being  kept  by  working  men  who  had  for 
years  been  voluntary  members  of  the  choir.  There  was  a 
special  choral  Celebration  at  nine  next  morning,  the  Eve  of 
the  Epiphany,  at  which  the  mourners  and  others  communi- 
cated, besides  the  usual  eight  o'clock  Celebration.  The 
church  was  brightly  lit  up,  and  beautiful  with  Christmas 
holly ;  choicest  white  flowers  on  the  altar,  and  entirely 
covering  the  pall  beneath  which  lay  the  body  of  the  first 
Warden  of  the  almshouses. 

It  was  borne  out  once  more  by  the  south  door  (through 
which  he  had  been  wont,  many  times  a  day,  to  go  to  and 
fro  from  his  house  to  the  church),  into  the  quadrangle,  and 
then  through  the  great  gate,  past  the  village  common,  into 
the  church  by  the  chief  entrance.  "  Now  the  labourer's  task 
is  o'er  "  was  sung  after  the  Lesson  was  read,  and  then,  pre- 
ceded by  the  choir,  the  old  pensioners,  and  the  long  train  of 
clergy,  the  coffin  was  for  the  last  time  taken  from  the 
church  and  carried  to  the  lovely  burial-ground.  The  last 
resting-place  looked  like  a  beautiful  grotto  rather  than  a 
grave,  for  it  was  entirely  lined  with  evergreens,  with  chaplets 
of  white  immortelles,  and  bunches  of  choicest  flowers. 
There  they  laid  him,  close  by  the  grave  of  his  only  child, 
in  the  midst  of  all  that  he  had  loved  best  on  earth,  to 
rest  till  the  day  break  and  the  shadows  flee  away. 


It   has    been  said,  by  one  greatly  honoured,  that  *  "  it 
almost  seems  as  if  the  members  of  Christ's  Body  are  to 

*  See  "The  Power  of  Suffering,"  by  the  Bishop  of  Truro. 

2  C 


385  VICTORY  THROUGH  SUFFERING. 

do  yet  more  through  their  suffering,  than  through  all  their 
energizing  ;  as  if — we  would  say  it  reverently — through  the 
wounds  of  the  members,  as  well  as  of  the  Head,  life  is  to 
flow  out.  It  seems  as  if,  in  some  mysterious  way,  the  great 
work  that  Christ  had  to  accomplish,  with  all  its  mysterious 
influence  on  worlds  unknown,  as  if  the  benefits  of  Christ's 
'  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice,'  could  not  be  received 
by  His  Church  till  the  wounds  in  our  hands  were  so  made, 
that  healing  could  flow  forth  from  them." 

But  it  is  an  easier  task  to  write  of  victory  through  coura- 
geous action  than  of  that  won  by  patient  endurance,  and 
the  story  told  in  these  pages,  not  without  difficulty,  is  meant 
for  those  who  will  read  it  with  indulgent  sympathy.  And 
if,  as  may  well  be  the  case,  it  seem  to  any  that  the  veil  has 
been  too  rudely  withdrawn  from  that  which  is  dearest  and 
most  sacred,  this,  too,  must  be  forgiven.  For  in  this  world 
of  preparation  for  eternal  joy,  the  purest  and  brightest 
happiness  must  needs  often  be  succeeded  by  deepest 
anguish,  and  it  may  be  that  some  sorrowing  souls  will  be 
comforted  and  strengthened  by  a  record  of  suffering  borne 
with  unshaken  faith  and  hope,  and  with  ever-deepening 
love  for  Him  Who,  having  willed  Himself  to  be  perfect 
through  suffering,  chasteneth  those  whom  He  loveth  and 
scourgeth  every  son  whom  He  receiveth. 

"Then  let  it  be, — enduring  for  their  sake, 
Hearts  that  are  bleeding  now,  or  once  have  bled, 
And  which  from  hence  some  solace  slight  may  take, 
That  others,  of  such  grief  untouched,  should  say 
That  here  what  better  had  been  covered, 
Is  bared  unto  the  garish  eye  of  day." 


APPENDIX. 


Since  these  pages  passed  through  the  press,  I  have 
seen  my  dear  friend's  will,  dated  August  13,  1867,  and  I 
think  it  well  that  some  extracts  from  it  should  be  given,  as 
they  seem  to  be  especially  characteristic,  and  to  express 
that  which,  if  he  could  speak,  he  would  wish  to  make 
known. 

T.  T.  Carter. 

October  12,  1883. 

In  the  Name  of  the  most  holy  and  undivided  Trinity,  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost :  one  Almighty  and  most 
merciful  God.     Amen. 

I,  James  Skinner,  priest  of  the  holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic 
Church  of  Christ,  in  England,  an  unworthy  sinner,  considering 
that  there  is  nothing  more  certain  than  death,  and  nothing  more 
uncertain  than  the  manner  and  hour  thereof;  hearing  in  my  ears 
the  voice  of  the  Lord  Jesus  exhorting  me  to  remember  that  I  know- 
not  the  day  nor  the  hour  of  the  "  coming  of  the  Son  of  man" — 
resolve  and  determine,  while  in  fair  health  and  strength,  lest  death 
come  upon  me  suddenly  and  I  be  summoned  away  unprepared, 
to  provide  for  the  last,  by  the  help  of  God's  grace.  And,  there- 
fore, I  hereby  declare  the  following  to  be  my  last  will  and  testa- 
ment. 

I  declare  before  God  and  the  whole  company  of  heaven 
that,  as  I  have  aimed,  with  many  shortcomings,  to  live  in  the  one 


380  APPENDIX. 

and  only  true  faith  of  the  most  holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic 
Church  of  Christ,  as  witnessed  to  the  world  before  the  division  of 
East  and  West,  so  in  the  same  I  humbly  desire  to  die,  trusting 
to  the  help  of  Divine  grace,  without  which  I  can  do  nothing. 
Wherefore,  if,  by  assault  of  the  devil  or  the  violence  of  pain  in 
disease,  or  the  aberrations  of  a  wandering  mind,  I  shall,  at  any 
time,  think  or  speak,  or  do  anything  contrary  to  the  said  most 
holy  faith,  I  do  now  hereby  already  revoke  it,  and  protest,  in  the 
presence  of  God,  that  I  do  not  consent  to  any  such  thoughts  or 
words  or  acts. 

I  protest  and  declare  that,  on  the  day  of  my  death,  I  do 
long  for  and  desire  the  blessed  opportunity  of  making  my  humble 
confession  and  receiving  the  sentence  of  absolution  from  a  priest, 
as  a  part  of  sincere  and  hearty  penitence.  Whereby,  thro'  the 
alone  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  may  be  cleansed  from  every  spot 
of  sin,  and  my  soul  may  be  presented  by  Jesus  in  His  own  spot- 
less Body,  made  spotless,  to  God.  Wherefore,  if  opportunity  shall 
be  wanting,  I  declare  this  to  be  my  will,  and  purpose  and  inten- 
tion of  my  heart,  to  confess  myself  wholly  and  fully  and  purely  to 
God.  .  .  . 

I  protest  and  declare  that,  on  the  day  of  my  death,  I 
desire  the  most  holy  and  blessed  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ  to  be  administered  unto  me,  whereby  I  am  joined 
on  to  Jesus  Christ  the  Incarnate  God,  and  find  all  refreshment 
and  strength  and  safety  and  shelter  in  Him.  Wherefore,  if 
opportunity  shall  be  wanting,  I  hereby  declare  that,  at  the  least,  I 
will  spiritually  to  receive  Jesus  in  this  Sacrament ;  and  I  humbly  be- 
seech Him  to  save  me  from  the  enemy  in  that  last  hour  of  conflict 
and  trial,  and  to  assist  and  sustain  and  fight  for  me  in  the  same. 

.  .  .  Whatever  may  be,  in  God's  wisdom,  the  manner  of  my 
death,  or  wheresoever,  I  pray  that  the  holy  name  of  Jesus,  and 
the  thought  of  His  kingdom  of  the  redeemed,  may  be  my  last 
word  and  last  thought.  And  therefore  when  words  shall  fail  me, 
I  do  hereby  protest  and  declare  that  I  desire  only  to  speak  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  to  think  of  His  kingdom  purchased  for  us ;  and 


APPENDIX. 


\$9 


to  praise  Him,  and  to  long  for  complete  and  perfect  union  with 
Him.  Wherefore  also  I  pray  that  the  whole  court  of  heaven 
above,  and  all  faithful  friends  on  earth,  and  all  my  beloved  ones 
who  may  be  near  or  around  me,  may  pray  and  long  thus  on  my 
behalf. 


KsFsHiSffiJS 


Old  Church  of  Newland  [circa  a.d.  1380;  taken  down  a. d.  li 


PRINTED    BY    WILLIAM  CLOWES    AND    SONS,  LIMITED,   LONDON    AND    BECCLES. 


A  LIST  OF 

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PUB  LIC A  TIONS. 


'-°°~*  -.,  , 


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PAGE 

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THOM,  J.  Hamilton.— -Laws  of  Life  after  the  Mind  of  Christ. 
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24  -^  List  of 

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WEDMORE,  Frederick.— The  Masters  of  Genre  Painting.  With 
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WHITNEY,  Prof.  William  Dwight.  —  Essentials  of  English 
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WILLIAMS,  Rowland,  D.D. — Psalms,  Litanies,  Counsels,  and 
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WILSON,  Sir  Erasmus.— "Egypt  of  the  Past.  With  Chromo-litho- 
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The  Recent  Archaic  Discovery  of  Egyptian  Mummies 
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WILSON,  Lieut.-Col.  C.  T.— The  Duke  of  Berwick,  Marshall 
of  France,  1702-1734.     Demy  8vo,  15*. 

WOLTMANN,  Dr.  Alfred,  and  WOERMANN,  Dr.  Karl.  —History 
of  Painting.  Edited  by  Sidney  Colvin.  Vol.  I.  Painting 
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Word  was  Made  Flesh.  Short  Family  Readings  on  the  Epistles  for 
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WREN,  Sir  Christopher.— His  Family  and  His  Times.  With 
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2.6  A  List  of 


THE    INTERNATIONAL    SCIENTIFIC    SERIES. 

I.  Forms    of    Water :     a  Familiar    Exposition  of   the    Origin    and 

Phenomena  of  Glaciers.     By  J.  Tyndall,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.     With 
25  Illustrations.     Eighth  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  5*. 

II.  Physics  and  Politics  ;  or,  Thoughts  on  the  Application  of  the 

Principles  of  "Natural  Selection "  and  "  Inheritance  "  to  Political 
Society.     By  Walter  Bagehot.     Sixth  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  4s. 

III.  Foods.     By  Edward  Smith,  M.D.,  LL.B.,  F.R.S.     With  numerous 

Illustrations.     Eighth  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  5-s. 

IV.  Mind  and  Body :  the  Theories  of  their  Relation.     By  Alexander 

Bain,  LL.D.    With  Four  Illustrations.    Seventh  Edition.    Crown 
Svo,  4J. 

V.  The    Study    of    Sociology.     By  Herbert    Spencer.     Eleventh 

Edition.     Crown  Svo,  $s. 

VI.  On  the  Conservation  of  Energy.     By  Balfour  Stewart,  M.A., 

LL.D.,  F.R.S.     With  14  Illustrations.     Sixth  Edition.     Crown 
Svo,  $s. 

VII.  Animal  Locomotion  ;  or  Walking,  Swimming,  and  Flying.     By 

J.   B.    Pettigrew,  M.D.,    F.R.S.,  etc.     With  130  Illustrations. 
Third  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  $s. 

VIII.  Responsibility  in  Mental  Disease.    By  Henry  Maudsley, 

M.D.     Fourth  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  $s. 

IX.  The  New  Chemistry.     By  Professor  J.  P.  Cooke.    With  31 

Illustrations.     Seventh  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  5*. 

X.  The  Science  of  Law.    By  Professor  Sheldon  Amos.    Fifth  Edition, 

Crown  Svo,  5s. 

XI.  Animal  Mechanism  :  a  Treatise  on  Terrestrial  and  Aerial  Loco- 

motion.    By   Professor  E.   J.    Marey.     With   117    Illustrations. 
Third  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  5s. 

XII.  The  Doctrine  of  Descent  and  Darwinism.     By  Professor 

Oscar  Schmidt.     With  26  Illustrations.     Fifth  Edition.     Crown 
8vo,  5*.  , 

XIII.  The  History  of   the  Conflict  between  Religion  and 

Science.    By  J.  W.  Draper,  M.D.,  LL.D.    Seventeenth  Edition. 
Crown  Svo,  5-r. 

XIV.  Fungi  :   their  Nature,  Influences,  Uses,  etc.     By  M.  C.  Cooke, 

M.D.,  LL.D.     Edited  by  the  Rev.  M.  J.  Berkeley,  M.A.,  F.L.S. 
With  numerous  Illustrations.     Third  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  Jr. 

XV.  The  Chemical  Effects  of  Light  and  Photography.    By 

Dr.    Hermann  Vogel.     Translation  thoroughly  Revised.      With 
100  Illustrations.     Fourth  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  5.?. 


Kegan  Paul,  Trench  &  Co.'s  Ptiblicatio?zs.         27 

XVI.  The  Life  and  Growth  of  Language.     By  Professor  William 

Dwight  Whitney.     Fourth  Edition.     Crown  8vo,  $s. 

XVII.  Money    and    the    Mechanism    of    Exchange.    By  W. 

Stanley  Jevons,  M.A.,  F.R.S.     Sixth  Edition.     Crown  8vo,  5*. 

XVIII.  The  Nature  of  Light.  With  a  General  Account  of  Physical 
Optics.  By  Dr.  Eugene  Lommel.  With  188  Illustrations  and  a 
Table  of  Spectra  in  Chromo-lithography.  Third  Edition.  Crown 
8vo,  $s. 

XIX.  Animal  Parasites    and    Messmates.      By  Monsieur   Van 

Beneden.    With  83  Illustrations.    Third  Edition.    Crown  8vo,  $s. 

XX.  Fermentation.      By  Professor  Schiitzenberger.      With  28  Illus- 

trations.    Third  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  5.5-. 

XXI.  The  Five  Senses  of  Man.     By  Professor  Bernstein.     With 

91  Illustrations.     Fourth  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  5^. 

XXII.  The  Theory  of  Sound  in  its  Relation  to  Music.    By  Pro- 

fessor  Pietro   Blaserna.      With  numerous   Illustrations.      Third 
Edition.     Crown  Svo,  $s. 

XXIII.  Studies  in  Spectrum  Analysis.  By  J.  Norman  Lockyer, 
F.R.S.  With  six  photographic  Illustrations  of  Spectra,  and 
numerous  engravings  on  Wood.  Third  Edition.  Crown  Svo, 
6s.  6d. 

XXIV.  A  History  of  the  Growth  of  the  Steam  Engine.    By 

Professor  R.  H.  Thurston.     With  numerous  Illustrations.     Third 
Edition.     Crown  Svo,  6s.  6d. 

XXV.  Education  as  a  Science.    By  Alexander  Bain,  LL.D.     Fourth 

Edition.     Crown  Svo,  $s. 

XXVI.  The  Human  Species.    By  Professor  A.  de  Quatrefages.    Third 

Edition.     Crown  Svo,  $s. 

XXVII.  Modern  Chromatics.  With  Applications  to  Art  and  In- 
dustry. By  Ogden  N.  Rood.  With  130  original  Illustrations. 
Second  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  $s. 

XXVIII.  The  Crayfish  :  an  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Zoology.  By 
Professor  T.  H.  Huxley.  With  82  Illustrations.  Third  Edition. 
Crown  8vo,  5^. 

XXIX.  The  Brain  as  an  Organ  of  Mind.  By  H.  Charlton  Bastian, 
M.D.  With  numerous  Illustrations.  Third  Edition.  Crown 
8vo,  5j. 

XXX.  The  Atomic  Theory.     By  Prof.   Wurtz.     Translated  by  G. 

Cleminshaw,  F.C.S.     Third  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  5^. 

XXXI.  The  Natural  Conditions  of  Existence  as  they  affect 
Animal  Life.  By  Karl  Semper.  With  2  Maps  and  106 
Woodcuts.     Third  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  5.$. 


28  A  List  of 

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D 


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TENNYSON,  Alfred— continued. 

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Portrait.     Extra,  bevelled  boards,  gilt  leaves,  21s. 

The  Guinea  Edition.  Complete  in  13  vols,  neatly  bound  and 
enclosed  in  box,  21s.  ;  French  morocco  or  parchment,  3U.  6d, 

Shilling  Edition.     In  13  vols,  pocket  size,  is.  each,  sewed. 

The  Crown  Edition.     Complete  in  1  vol.  strongly  bound,  6s. ; 
extra  gilt  leaves,  p.  6d.  ;  Roxburgh,  half-morocco,  8s.  6d. 
***  Can  also  be  had  in  a  variety  of  other  bindings. 

In  Memoriam.  With  a  Miniature  Portrait  in  eau-forte  by  Le 
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Library  Edition,  6s. ;  vellum,  Js.  6d. 

The  Princess.  A  Medley.  With  a  Miniature  Frontispiece  by 
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Poems.     Small  8vo,  6s. 

Maud,  and  other  Poems.     Small  8vo,  3*.  6d, 

The  Princess.     Small  8vo,  3*.  6d. 

Idylls  of  the  King.     Small  8vo,  $s. 

Idylls  of  the  King.     Complete.     Small  8vo,  6s. 

The  Holy  Grail,  and  other  Poems.     Small  8vo,  4^.  6d. 

Gareth  and  Lynette.     Small  8vo,  $s. 

Enoch  Arden,  etc.     Small  8vo,  y.  6d. 

In  Memoriam.     Small  8vo,  4s. 

Harold  :  a  Drama.     New  Edition.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

Queen  Mary  :  a  Drama.     New  Edition.     Crown  8vo,  6s» 

The  Lover's  Tale.     Fcap.  8vo,  3*.  6d. 

Ballads,  and  other  Poems.     Small  8vo,  $s. 

Selections  from  the  above  Works.   Super  royal  i6mo,  3*.  6d.  l9 

gilt  extra,  4^. 
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Tennyson  for  the  Young  and  for  Recitation.    Specially  arranged. 
Fcap.  Svo,  is.  6d. 

The  Tennyson  Birthday  Book.    Edited  by  Emily  Shakespeak. 
32mo,  limp,  2s.  ;  extra,  3*. 
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and  in  various  calf  and  morocco  bindings. 


Kegan  Paul,  Trench  &  Cots  Publications.         37 


THORNTON,  L.  M.—The  Son  of  Shelomith.  Small  crown  8vo, 
3s.  6d. 

TODHUNTER,  Dr.  J.— Laurella,  and  other  Poems.  Crown  Svo, 
6s.  6d. 

Forest  Songs.     Small  crown  Svo,  3s.  6d. 

The  True  Tragedy  of  Rienzi :  a  Drama.     3s.  6d. 

Alcestis  :  a  Dramatic  Poem.     Extra  fcap.  8vo,  $s. 

A  Study  of  Shelley.     Crown  Svo,  jrj. 

Translations  from  Dante,  Petrarch,  Michael  Angelo,  and 
Vittoria  Colonna.     Fcap.  8vo,  ys.  6d. 

TURNER,  Rev.  C.  Tennyson.—  Sonnets,  Lyrics,  and  Trans- 
lations.    Crown  8vo,  4s.  6d. 

Collected  Sonnets,  Old  and  New.  With  Prefatory  Poem  by 
Alfred  Tennyson  ;  also  some  Marginal  Notes  by  S.  T. 
Coleridge,  and  a  Critical  Essay  by  James  Spedding.  Fcap. 
8vo,  ys.  6d. 

WALTERS,  Sophia  Lydia.—K  Dreamer's  Sketch  Book.  With  21 
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and  T.  R.  Pritchett.  Engraved  by  J.  D.  Cooper.  Fcap.  4to, 
1 2 s.  6d. 

WEBSTER,  Augusta.— In  a  Day  :  a  Drama.    Small  crown  8vo,  2s.  6d. 

Wet  Days.     By  a  Farmer.     Small  crown  8vo,  6s. 

WILKINS,  William.— Songs  of  Study.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

WILLIAMS,  J.—K  Story  of  Three  Years,  and  other  Poems.  Small 
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WORKS    OF    FICTION    IN    ONE    VOLUME. 

BANKS,  Mrs.  G.  L—  God's  Providence  House.    New  Edition. 
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HARDY,  Thomas.— A  Pair  of  Blue  Eyes.    Author  of  "Far  from 
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The  Return  of  the  Native.    New  Edition.    With  Frontispiece. 
Crown  8vo,  6s. 

INGELOW,  Jean.— Off  the  Skelligs  :  a  Novel.     With  Frontispiece. 
Second  Edition.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

MACDONALD,  £.— Castle  Warlock.    A  Novel.    New  and  Cheaper 
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38  A  List  of 

MA  CD ONALD,  G.  —continued. 

Malcolm.    With  Portrait  of  the  Author  engraved  on  Steel.     Sixth 
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St.  George  and   St.  Michael.     Third  Edition.     With  Frontis- 
piece.    Crown  8vo,  6s. 

PALGRA  VE,  W.  Gifford. — Hermann  Agha  :  an  Eastern  Narrative. 
Third  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

SHA  W,  Flora  L. — Castle  Blair  ;  a  Story  of  Youthful  Lives.     New  and 
Cheaper  Edition.     Crown  8vo,  3*.  6d. 

STRETTON,  Hesba.—  Through  a  Needle's  Eye  :  a  Story.     New 
and  Cheaper  Edition,  with  Frontispiece.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

TAYLOR,   Col.  Meadows,   C.S.I.,  M.R.I.A.—Seeta.:   a  Novel.      New 
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Tippoo  Sultaun  :  a  Tale  of  the  Mysore  War.     New  Edition,  with 
Frontispiece.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

Ralph  Darnell.    New  and  Cheaper  Edition.     With  Frontispiece. 
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A  NToble  Queen.     New  and  Cheaper  Edition.      With  Frontis- 
piece.    Crown  8vo,  6s. 

The  Confessions  of  a  Thug.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

Tara  :  a  Mahratta  Tale.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

Within  Sound  of  the  Sea.     New  and  Cheaper  Edition,  with  Frontis- 
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BOOKS    FOR    THE    YOUNG. 

Brave  Men's  Footsteps.  A  Book  of  Example  and  Anecdote  for 
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4  Illustrations  by  C.  Doyle.  Eighth  Edition.  Crown  Svo, 
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COXHEAD,  Ethel.— Birds  and  Babies.  Imp.  i6mo.  With  33 
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DA  VIES,  G.  Christopher.—  Rambles  and  Adventures  of  our 
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Edition.     Crown  Svo,  3^.  6d. 

EDMONDS,  Herbert.— "Well  Spent  Lives  :  a  Series  of  Modern  Bio- 
graphies.    New  and  Cheaper  Edition.     Crown  8vo,  3^.  6d. 


Kegau  Paul,   Trench  &  Co.'s  Publications.         39 

EVANS,  Mark.— The  Story  of  our  Father's  Love,  told  to  Children. 
Fourth  and  Cheaper  Edition  of  Theology  for  Children.  With  4 
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JOHNSON;  Virginia  W.—  The  Catskill  Fairies.  Illustrated  by 
Alfred  Fredericks.     $s. 

MAC  KENNA,  S.  J.—  Plucky  Fellows.  A  Book  for  Boys.  With 
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REANEY,  Airs.  G.  S.—  Waking  and  Working  ;  or,  From  Girlhood 
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Blessing  and   Blessed :    a    Sketch  of   Girl    Life.      New  and 
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Rose  Gurney's  Discovery.     A  Book  for  Girls.     Dedicated  to 
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English  Girls  ;   Their  Place  and  Power.     With  Preface  by  the 
Rev.  R.  W.  Dale.     Fourth  Edition.     Fcap.  8vo,  2s.  6d. 

Just   Anyone,    and   other  Stones.      Three  Illustrations.     Royal 
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STOCKTON,  Frank  R.—K  Jolly  Fellowship.  With  20  Illustra- 
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STORR,  Francis,  and  TURNER,  Halves—  Canterbury  Chimes; 
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STRETTON,  Hesba.—  David  Lloyd's  Last  Will.  With  4  Illustra- 
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Tales  from  Ariosto  Re-told  for  Children.  By  a  Lady.  With  3 
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WHI TAKER,  Florence.— Christy's  Inheritance.  A  London  Story. 
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